Catching Tales by Jamie Cullum: Smooth Jazz CD Review
by Lee Dennis, a.k.a. SmoothLee
British born pianist and vocalist Jamie Cullum is a fresh new artist worth your attention.
He has released his second CD titled Catching Tales as a follow up to his
fist outing Twentysomething.
Click to hear MP3
samples of each song on Catching Tales
by Jamie Cullum.
I find Cullum's music to be very refreshing because it's not exactly jazz,
pop, soul or even hip-hop. It's kind of an amalgamation of all of the above
mentioned genres and is very good. In today's world who limits their music
collection to just on genre anyway, and why would you.
Gone are the days when an artist forces him or herself to fit neatly into
one category to satisfy radio station formats or even record store categories.
The early days of Lyle Lovett come to mind. Not that Cullum's music reminds me
of Lovett at all but rather the way his music simply does not fit into any
category that I can think of right off hand.
Let me say, clearly I'm loving this young new guy and his old fashioned music.
Cullum's first two CD's are so good one can't help but wonder how good his
future releases will be as he matures as an artist. If he can create songs like
track 5, Nothing I Do, track 6, Mind Trick and track 2, London Skies while still
only in his mid twenties, imagine the tunes he'll be cranking out as a
seasoned musician and songwriter.
Like Twentysomething, throughout Catching Tales you will hear a variety of influences
and musical styles. At times reflecting Harry Connick Jr. and others a little
Michael Buble, and still other times reminding you of a Tony Bennett.
All of the the songs on the CD are Cullum originals and the lyrics are offbeat
and very youthful. Cullum's husky, sometimes gravelly voice sounds great even when
he eases into high notes.
The big band jazz sound of Nothing I Do is nothing short of brilliant, and the
closing track, My Yard features some awesome acoustics.
Overall Catching Tales is an excellent contribution by the young and clearly
very talented Cullum and would be a great addition to your music collection.
It's quite simply a very entertaining CD.
The standout tunes are Get Your Way [track 1], London Skies [track 2], and 7
Days To Change Your Life [track 11]. My SmoothLee Bonus Pick, and the one that got
Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 6, Mind Trick.
Very nice!
Release Notes:
This CD was originally released October 11, 2005 on the Verve Forecast record label.
CD track list follows:
1. Get Your Way
2. London Skies
3. Photograph
4. I Only Have Eyes For You
5. Nothing I Do
6. Mind Trick
7. 21st Century Kid
8. I'm Glad There Is You
9. Oh God
10. Catch The Sun
11. 7 Days To Change Your Life
12. Our Day Will Come
13. Back To The Ground
14. My Yard
To listen to samples of each song on Catching
Tales by Jamie Cullum go to:
Jamie
Cullum CD - Catching Tales Samples
Lee Dennis, a.k.a. "SmoothLee" is an AVID music fan, smooth jazz in particular, and in addition to writing CD Reviews for
I Love Smooth Jazz.com
can also be heard during his
radio show which airs daily online at Smooth Jazz 24/7
Copyright 2006 - Lee Dennis. All Rights
Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article on your
website, blog, newsletter, or magazine as long as you leave all of the links
active, do not edit the article in any way, and give proper author name credit.
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