Given the size of my music library, artists often fad in and out of my listening patterns. I usually select a few CDs and genres to focus on at certain time. Currently, I spend most of my time listening to classic rock and alternative rock. I love oldies and jazz as well, but those genres were in hibernation until yesterday. Last night, I opened up my heart to Jamie Cullum again. I overdosed on Jamie Cullum for two years, beginning senior year of high school. I own all his CDs, even the one he released of music that inspires him. I have also seen him three times in concert, and one of those times I met him.
See the picture? He is obviously in love with me. Ignore my terrible outfit... he sees into my heart.
One of my favorite things about Jamie, (yes we are on a first name basis), is that he is very passionate about his music and in my opinion is a true jazz musician. He does his best without a set list. Seeing Jamie at the Wiltern was one of the best concert experiences I have ever had. Half way through the concert he split the audience into two with a casual arm movement. He gave everyone kazoos and assigned each side a unique scat noise to create with the kazoo. He then came into the audience with the sax player and began singing random stuff not found on his CDs. Also, I enjoyed that moment because I touched him... yes. The power Jamie exudes while performing is incredible. After seeing him live for the first time, I could'nt listen to his studio albums.
He enjoys covering popular songs and using any materials present to make music. His energy and creativity is inspiring. The following videos show Jamie covering some popular songs like Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes and Sexy Back by Justin Timerberlake. Usually I am scared of covers. I am a purist and respect the originals, but his covers are so unique and given my infatuation I actually really enjoy them. (Ahhhhhhh $@bfs^$&$%*&VDbvdab!!!! he is so talented, and his voice while singing Sexy Back is incredibly sexy).
I enjoy his covers more than his original music, but some of his own stuff is fantastic because he incorporates his humor and some musical elements that showcase his wonderful voice. In his song Photograph, a few of the lyrics were written for me (not really) when I died my hair auburn last year:
It was the same night that I kissed that girl,
the tall one with the auburn hair,
I remember laughing coz to kiss me,
she had to sit down on a chair!
Yes, Jamie is really short, but very cute. With his energy on stage he kind of reminds me of a monkey. He did a few jumping-off-the-piano moves when I saw him at the Wiltern. One of my favorite Jamie originals is Nothing I do. It is about a fight with his girlfriend but he intentionally wrote it upbeat so it feels like a happy song. Jamie enjoys irony and did a similar thing with a song he wrote about the "beautiful" London skies. Oh, I forgot, another reason I love Jamie is because he is foreign.
Here are a few other great Jamie covers, probably more for my enjoyment when I stalk my own blog. A great thing about these covers is that the artists that originally sang the songs, like Elton John and Pharrell Williams, really enjoy Jamie's interpretation of them. In the first video you can see Elton John enjoying Jamie's performance. When Jamie covered Pharrell's song, Pharell said that he was surprised to finally meet Jamie and discover that he wasn't black. (Frontin' is originally a hip-hop song).
Jamie is out of hibernation.
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When is Spinal Tap playing?
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