JAMIE CULLUM
Twentysomething

Verve

Those zany Brits. You’ve got to hand it to them. Never content to let a new American performer go by without putting forward their own counterpart, they give us this “Sinatra in sneakers” (as the British press has dubbed him) as an answer to American singer/songwriter/pianist with a jazzy flair Norah Jones, American crooner Peter Cincotti, and Canadian jazz pianist/singer turned pop singer/songwriter Diana Krall. But Jamie Cullum is not a jazz performer by anyone’s standards—indeed, he’s being marketed as a ‘jazz/pop’ performer. That isn’t really important, though, if one merely wishes to consider this youngster’s musical output.

What Cullum is, in some ways, is a throwback to the Las Vegas lounge singer back when that label wasn’t an insult. Sometimes brash like Bobby Darin, sometimes throwing off a Buddy Greco insouciance, Cullum is a hipster and an energetic pianist, but on twentysomething he falls a bit short as a jazz performer and doesn’t always deliver on his renditions of other peoples’ songs. Still, he has plenty of energy and a winning way with his own material.

The opening song, “These Are the Days” recalls no one so much as early Billy Joel. Composed by Cullum’s brother, Ben, whom he claims as his biggest influence (and Ben’s two songs are definitely the CD’s best), the song boasts a very comfortable melody that fits Cullum perfectly. Jamie’s own “Twentysomething” has a clever lyric that talks about the woes of the recent indebted college graduate contemplating paying off his loans and holding down a job. The chanted riff that evolves later in the song is like something from Louis Prima’s Vegas heyday. There’s a brief piano solo that sounds good, but doesn’t give you much of an idea of what Cullum can do. It’s a sure tipoff that this is a pop singer’s album rather than a jazz musician’s album when one considers that there are fourteen tracks here, none but the bonus track more than five minutes in length, which hardly leaves any room for solos or improvisation.

Cullum chooses an interesting mix of contemporary covers and standards, but very often he fails to connect with these songs. His version of the Jimi Hendrix song “Wind Cries Mary” is pleasant enough, but settles into a contemporary groove and makes no attempt to go further. In addition, the horn arrangements border on Blood Sweat and Tears jazz/rock simplicity. In similar fashion he misses the emotional intensity of Jeff Buckley’s “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” and Radiohead’s “High and Dry,” treating them as somewhat disposable pop fare. Things don’t improve much with the standards that he attempts. His “Singin’ In the Rain” is smooth and comfortable, but has no pizzazz at all. “I Get a Kick Out of You” is more interesting, but one senses that Cullum’s heart really isn’t in the song but rather in his rendition can convey a shorthand hipness. He does get in a nice solo on this number, but it’s not really enough to make the listener feel like they are listening to a real jazz talent. Ultimately, Cullum is not interesting enough as a singer to really keep one’s interest throughout this CD, and there’s too little of his pianistic talent on display to really feel that one is in the presence of an original instrumental voice. Indeed, the Jamie Cullum Trio, heard unadorned on at least a few tracks, is never given a chance to convey a musical personality, as bassist Geoff Gascoyne and drummer Sebastiaan de Krom are never really featured, merely serving as backdrops for Cullum’s keyboards and vocals.

All of this has not made any difference in Cullum’s native England, where he is revered as a young jazz artist of some consequence. And there are plenty here in the U.S. who will also be susceptible to the young Englishman’s charms. Certainly Cullum has talent at the keyboard and demonstrates a knack for songwriting that will no doubt grow and mature as he continues to write. The bonus track, a live recording of “Frontin’” by the trio, is much more of a jazz performance and gives the feeling that when Cullum decides to cut loose with his piano playing, he could be a force to be reckoned with. In the meantime, twentysomething is recommended for those who like pop music or perhaps smooth jazz, but not for those who enjoy more adventurous music.