Friday, July 16, 2004
Artist: Jamie Cullum
Title: Twentysomething
The only difference between this being a very good album and a great album is time.
Many times the mark of a great album is if it is still being listened to years later. I have no doubt this album will become a long term staple for any true fan of great music.
On all fronts this mildly jazz, pop vocal performance is a brilliant release showing a perfect balance between talent, creative vision, performance, and songwriting.
Another appealing aspect of Cullum’s debut album are his tasteful nods to the foundation of great music with his covers of Cole Porter’s, “I Get A Kick Out Of You’ or his cover of Jimi Hendrix’s, “The Wind Cries Mary” or the cover of, “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” by the late Jeff Buckley. Clearly Cullum is a fan of music with an in-depth knowledge of popular music’s history. As the President of Homer’s Music Stores I am often dismayed at the lack of knowledge by contemporary musicians have of what came before "their" sound.
At the ’04 South By Southwest Music Festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, we had the opportunity to see Cullum perform. It was terrific. I don’t think it’s any leap of faith to say the Cullum is easily the one of the two most exhilarating piano playing performers since Elton John’s string of hits in the mid ‘70’s (the other was Ben Folds).
All in all this kid appears to have a great future in front of him and I encourage you, with every shred of influence I can muster, to check out this wonderful young talent and get on board the Peace Train before it leaves the station!
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