Jamie Cullum
Jamie Cullum
Jamie Cullumis an English jazz-pop singer-songwriter. Although he is primarily a vocalist/pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments including guitar and drums. Since April 2010, he has been presenting a weekly jazz show on BBC Radio 2, broadcast on Tuesdays from 19:00...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionJazz Singer
Date of Birth20 August 1979
paper trouble plenty
I get into plenty of trouble. It just doesn't seem to get picked up by the papers.
kids terrifying
I think you realise how terrifying and scary the world is when you're bringing kids into it.
absolute affected allen became bit drawn fitted interest jazz mixture movies music perhaps watching wearing woody wrong
I was an absolute idiot, wearing polo-necks, reading Kerouac, watching Woody Allen movies, and jazz fitted right into all of that. My interest in that whole world became very genuine, but perhaps started off a bit affected - a mixture of right and wrong reasons. I was always drawn to non-commercial music, perhaps pathologically so.
amazing brother brothers eaten full growing maternal near river
My maternal granddad, Leonard, was full of amazing stories. He was an orphan, with 11 or 12 brothers and sisters, and he used to tell us about growing up near the Irrawaddy river and how one brother was eaten by a crocodile.
applying job people stories thinking writes
I was thinking of applying to the 'Guardian' for a job after university. Yeah, I wanted to be one of the people who writes stories in G2.
best damage friend grew guitar lover pianos playing prize relationship worship
I worship pianos like they are prize diamonds, and I never willfully do damage to them. But I grew up playing guitars, and you treat a guitar like a best friend or a little brother or a lover you have a tempestuous relationship with.
family opposite people safer total
People often say that having a family makes you make safer choices. It's been the total opposite for me. It's really made me want to make bolder choices.
ambition grow
My only ambition is to grow as a musician.
born cooking country earliest exotic food indian quite reflected side spicy version
My mother was born in Burma, but my grandfather on her side was Indian-Spanish. So I have this quite exotic mix, which is reflected in my earliest memories, in our Wiltshire country kitchen, of gran, and aunts, cooking spicy stewy, casseroley curries, a version of Indian food with a Burmese twist.
believe bomb examine kids life sets
Having kids sets a bomb off in your life. It really makes you examine who you are, what you believe in and what you want to be. And that is magical for creativity.
biography grand great tom waits
I have a piano in my kitchen. I read a great biography about Tom Waits that said that he had a piano in his kitchen; he had a grand piano in his kitchen. And I thought, 'Well, if Tom Waits has one, then I must.'
almost amazing dude guy hall total
I can't get enough of this guy called Baths. He's a total L.A. dude and really young as well. It's super-electronic, but with almost Hall & Oates-style songwriting. Without the context of the production, it could be super-cheesy, but it has amazing harmonies.
dad definitely died early filtered gene met
My grandfather, Harry, died when my dad was in his early 20s, so I never met him. Amazingly, he was 6ft tall. That gene definitely never filtered down to me!
army bowls british chicken ended feet jewish lots met nightclub refugee soup
My grandmother on my father's side, a nightclub singer, was a Jewish refugee from Prussia who ended up in Jerusalem, where she met my grandfather - a British army officer. I remember as a child having bowls of chicken soup made by her. There were lots of interesting components, like feet and necks.