JBEIL: “My hair,” Jamie Cullum announced to his Byblos International Festival audience Tuesday night, “is not normally this curly.”
Lebanon’s summertime coastal temperature – the cause of the English celebrity’s excitable hair – reached its 2011 high this week but the heat and humidity didn’t restrain the 31-year-old jazz artist. Cullum barely stayed seated during his two-hour performance, uncommon among pianists.
His energy did not wane as the concert wore on and, along the way, his audience was treated to some gymnastics that are above and beyond the call of duty for jazz artists – including leaping from the top of his grand piano.
Exuberant as his performance was, it was clear he was not trying to compensate for any want of vocal or piano-playing ability.
Cullum came to fame in 2003 with the release of his first U.K. album. By the end of the year he was Britain’s biggest selling jazz artist of all time. In 2007 he won Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Award for Best British Male.
His popularity stems not just from his crooning abilities, and certainly not from his height – he stands at 5’4” – but from his great charisma, something he demonstrated at Byblos.
The show began with “Photograph,” whose lyrics refer pointedly to the performer’s height – “I remember laughing ’cos to kiss me / She had to sit down on her chair.”
Cullum’s accompanying pantomime – a tiptoed stretch upward – brought some added value to the self-deprecating humor.
The artist continued with “Get Your Way,” another song from his “Catching Tales” album, and proceeded to introduce himself to the audience, pretending to have memorized (and forgotten) a Lebanese translation of “We are so proud to be here in Byblos to play for you tonight.”
His efforts to speak Arabic delighted the audience, who were fast on their feet with applause.
“It is wonderful here, one of the friendliest, nicest places I have ever been to,” announced Cullum. “We wish we could stay. Lebanon is an incredible place with an amazing spirit.”
The pianist’s concerts are generally improvised affairs, with no set playlist agreed upon beforehand.
Adding to the buzzing atmosphere, Cullum frequently rushed to his piano to strike a solo.
His band members were equally relaxed. Tom Richards, playing saxophone, percussion and keyboard, showed his expertise during his several solo improvisations.
Rory Simmons shone on trumpet and guitars, and bassist (electric and acoustic) Chris Hill shared the solo spotlight, as did drummer and backing vocalist Brad Webb.
Cullum’s performance power was such that, when he introduced himself, the audience couldn’t help but chant his name back, clapping and stomping their feet in accompaniment.
Though a songwriter, Cullum has gained enormous popularity from his cover versions of other well-known artists. He’s performed numbers by jazz legends such as Cole Porter but he’s also credited with mainstream-ing jazz, with jazzed-up covers of tunes by Beyonce and Rihanna.
He demonstrated his improvisational skills Tuesday, performing two Beyonce chart-toppers – “Single Ladies” and “Crazy in Love” – then passing seamlessly into the Beatles’ “Come Together.”
“Byblos,” Cullum yelled at one point. “Come together!”
The pianist followed with “All at Sea,” a slow, sensual song he wrote at 21 while working on a cruise ship.
The crowd’s favourite song of the evening seemed to be Cullum’s cover of Radiohead’s “High and Dry.” His own composition, “Twenty Something,” was also greeted with screams of delight.
Early on in the concert, about half the audience were out of their seats and dancing. Many more joined in as he moved into a mellifluous cover of Rihanna’s “Please Don’t Stop the Music.” The tune turned into a sing-along, with the crowd chanting the lyrics back.
“Please dance,” cried Cullum. “It’s what we’re here for!”
Cullum’s spirit of improvisation continued to reverberate as he turned to a mix of “Cry Me a River.” The artist mingled several versions of the song, which has been adapted over the decades. Beginning with Julie London’s original, Cullum brought in Justin Timberlake’s more-recent take on the song, only to make the song entirely his own.
“It’s not about Britney,” he announced as he gestured to Richards’ sax. “It’s about Tom Richards!”
Cullum drew the audience into the performance as much as he did his band members. Toward the end of the show, he divided the eager crowd into three sections, giving them each a tune to repeat. “It’s going to be beautiful,” he said with an enormous grin.
As the diverse concert wore on, the artist covered Kanye West’s “Gold Digger,” stunning and charming the audience with his own beat-box accompaniment.
It’s rare to have an entire audience pogo-ing at a jazz concert – and Cullum managed to get each member of his crowd jumping in unison for the concert finale.
Cullum said that he hopes to be back in Lebanon soon. If audience satisfaction and multiple standing ovations are anything to go by, his return is imminent.
The Byblos International Festival continues Saturday with a show by Thirty Seconds to Mars. For more information call 09-542-020.
