Jamie Cullum: The Pianist Who Reads Between Lines

Jamie Cullum treats a song the way a good reader treats a sentence: he looks for what else it could mean.

Born in Romford in 1979 and raised in Hullavington, Wiltshire, Cullum studied English Literature, with a minor in Film Studies, at Reading University. He graduated with First Class Honours. The habits of a close reader still show in his work. He is first of all a singer, but he also accompanies himself on piano, guitar and drums. That makes his shows feel more like conversations than recitals.

His breakthrough record, Twentysomething (2003), shows the method. "What A Difference A Day Made" keeps the standard's warmth and adds a young player's swing. "Wind Cries Mary" takes Hendrix somewhere quieter and more intimate. Two years later, "Get Your Way" and "Mind Trick" showed a songwriter with a pop ear and a jazz musician's curiosity.

That curiosity is why his 2018 take on "Shape Of You" or "Can't Feel My Face" works. Cullum reads modern pop the way he reads the Great American Songbook, as material worth rewriting.

On Red Light Jazz Radio, expect him somewhere between the club and the charts.