Live Review: Jamie Cullum - EFG London Jazz Festival // Royal Festival Hall, London 22/11/2024

Critically-acclaimed musician and songwriter Jamie Cullum brought a night of fun and showmanship to London when he played the Royal Festival Hall as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival.

I owe a small part of my teenage years to this short-legged man, buying his album 'Twentysomething' with my first ever wage packet from my weekend job while studying at school. I listened to that CD until it could no longer be played - Jamie is now celebrating it's twentieth anniversary by releasing it finally on vinyl! (Adding this to my Amazon Christmas wish list...).

Fast forward to twenty-two years since Cullum headlined this venue - he starts off his show off with 'I Get A Kick Out Of You' - a Cole Porter cover, it begins the night on a chilled moment. Sat behind the piano in his normal attire of black blazer and red socks - you could sense he wouldn't be sat behind it much longer, with the energy bouncing from the pedals upwards!

He moves through tracks like 'Get Your Way' and 'What I'd Say' gracefully, sounding as fresh and new like as if they were released yesterday. Armed with his live band, his performance was magnetic - drawing you in with his own jazz spells. Switching between instruments effortless - you could tell this band had us in the palm of their hands, controlling the full adventure of our evening.

There is a hint of nostalgia when 'These are the days' finally arrives within the set. The sax echoes manages to turn this huge venue into a small late-night jazz venue. Smashing into 'Everybody Wants To Be A Cat' adds to that vibe - but bringing a more feet-moving energy to the room.

With his jacket flung to the side and piano drumming - the venue's audience is invited to singalong to 'Next Year Baby' and 'Mankind' sees Jamie taking a giant leap from his Yamaha piano. With showmanship at this level - it is impossible to get bored. Her fearlessly slips from solo piano moments to full band explosions of madness. One of the most beautiful moments of the evening was his whole band coming together around the piano to sing 'Save Your Soul' in harmony.

When it came to the end of the night, you could tell Cullum was emotional from the response of the encore, but I don't think the venue was ready for what was about to be thrown at them. With Jamie encouraging everyone to give up their seats and embrace the venue spaces to have a good time - suddenly the room was on their feet. With everyone dancing, the venue is in full swing. Bringing the evening almost to an end, but then the intro of 'All At Sea' starts to echo around the venue. My favourite song from that album I bought all those years ago. A delicate but stunning end to what can only be described as a timeless evening.

Jamie Callum tells the story of how he used to play the Pizza Express across the road from this famous London venue - but look at him now. Going twenty years strong and flying the British jazz scene flag high.

Words by Ant Adams


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