Bookended neatly between two jazz classics, Jamie Cullum brought his own special brand of live music magic to the Kunstrasen on Friday. A man who effortlessly melds classical and jazz music to pop and rock, tailored formal jackets to white t-shirts, and makes everything look so easy – like like he’s at your party and someone spontaneously suggests sitting round the piano for a relaxing break.
It’s twenty minutes to 8 pm when I’m suddenly alerted that we should head out to the photo-pit. Jamie Cullum wants to start his set earlier than planned. Yes, you heard that right -earlier than planned. And no, it’s not so he can have an early night. He’s concerned about fitting everything he wants to play in by the 10 pm curfew time. As it turns out he was very wise to do so.
Suddenly, from the other side of the photo-pit, there are surprised cheers from the audience, and the Man is already taking his place at the piano. I can’t see him with my naked eye. The stage is too high. Using my camera held high above my head as a periscope it’s possible to grab a few shots as he launches into Cole Porter’s ‘I Get a Kick Out Of You’. I can see that Jamie Cullum is looking very much the classical pianist in a dark formal jacket. The formal photo outfit serves its purpose briefly. Thankfully for my arms, the next number is ‘Get Your Way’ and the jacket is flung away to reveal a white T-shirt and glittering black jogging trousers as Cullum digs in deep to the rap-style number and makes himself comfortable for the evening.
It’s a musical evening that covers many musical styles, and this often within the same song. Early on in particular there are nods to Jazz classics. A rocking ‘What’d I Say’ (Ray Charles), ‘Love for Sale’ (Cole Porter), ‘Everybody wants to be a Cat’ from ‘The Aristocats’ film, which was he says “Actually the second film that inspired me to play Jazz. The first was ‘Jungle Book’ but too many others have already plundered the songs from that movie!” He takes each of these classic songs, makes them his own, and gives the band free reign with solos. I should point out that the frequent solos are not chances for Cullum himself to take a break. He remains onstage all night, clearly enjoying the band’s part in the evening. Indeed, they are all excellent musicians, and the clarinet solo by Tom Richards on ‘You and Me Are Gone‘ was so good that it got a reception as loud as those normally reserved for the star himself.
The second half of the main set was where the gears stepped up. Gradually at first, with ‘Mankind’ off of 2019’s ‘Taller’ album with its optimistic refrain, “I won’t write off, Mankind!”. Certainly a topical thought in these politically difficult days. ‘Twenty Something’ the title track off of Cullum’s 2003 release is a gloriously punchy number whose lyrics I especially like: concerning wearing a Morrissey t-shirt and the wish “Don’t make me live for Friday nights. Drinking eight pints and getting in fights” I especially warm to the self-deprecating way that Cullum talks about himself between numbers: “I’ll be forty-five this year. Yes, I know, I still look 12. It’s terrible…” or, as on his lyric from ‘Taller’ “I wish I was taller. I wish I was wiser” You really can’t help but like the man. He seems just like every guy at a party. Until he gets into the serious stuff that is: completely reinventing Robert Knight’s ‘Everlasting Love’ and even using the piano itself as percussion. Not for the first or last time this evening the large groups in the audience were happily joining in word for word. Nina Simone’s ‘Sinnerman’ was another classic that Jamie Cullum ran with, picking up its pace until he and the entire band absolutely owned it, by which time he was standing on the piano top.
That extra-early start allowed plenty of time for encores and Jamie Cullum needed all of it. Returning to the simple set-up that started the evening of just man and piano, but this time with a relaxed t-shirt and a relaxed smile, there was an ‘Ode to Bonn’ seemingly plucked entirely out of thin air. Improvised to a deserved thunderous applause. A mesmerizing ‘All at Sea’, and – perhaps that earlier thunderous applause brought it on – a light shower. No problem for Jamie Cullum, who promptly launched into ‘Singing in the Rain’. Was it all just a coincidence? Or was even God enjoying the show so much he decided to take part? We shall never know.
What we do know though, every single one of the 4,200 lucky people at this wonderful concert, is that we have been in the presence of a very special talent and enjoyed one of the best Kunst!Rasen evenings to date of this or any other year.
