Review: Jamie Cullum - Catching Tales

Grade: C+ | Genre: Vocal Jazz Summary: Cullum needs to get back to taking more chances with his material and really pushing out those stuffy boundaries of jazz. For some time, vocal jazz has been dominated by the ladies. Norah Jones, Diana Krall, and Madeleine Peyroux have all made significant in roads to shatter the jazz mold, venturing into uncharted genres like pop, country, and rock. Beyond seminal crooner Connick Jr., the men's invite to the party got lost in the mail. Last year, youngster Jamie Cullum burst onto the jazz scene carrying with him a hip catalog of tunes and a voice that betrayed his years. He was a fresh face that had the passion of youth, looking to breathe life and vitality into an art that usually finds appreciation among the older set. Cullum covered modern artists like Jimi Hendrix, Radiohead, and even Pharrell Williams with impeccable grace, always adding a tasty spin on modern classics. His second album Twentysomething put him on the map, making the music world perk up and take notice. Can he match that brilliance with his latest release Catching Tales?

Cullum was 24 when he released Twentysomething. Similar to other contemporaries like Joss Stone, Cullum was lauded for his musical prowess and astute eye for seeing what a song could be. By the time that follow-up album hits the shelves, though he's still a kid at heart, he's been cycled through the gears of the industry for a year plus so that astonishment with his youth is yesterday's news. Now it's a question of whether the whirlwind of fame and exposure has chewed up his musical drive, and how has working with idols like Pharrell affected his swing?

Again Cullum picks an array of modern favorites and established classics to cover. Doves "Catch the Sun" definitely takes you aback the first time you hear it much like "High & Dry" did. In the Doves version, Jimi Goodwin's strong vocal presence fought through the distortion and stood out for its contrast and unconventionality. When Cullum tries to play the song straight, it falls flat. It divorces the character and the essence of what made this song, and the band as a whole, great. He does an amazing job with the classic "I Only Have Eyes for You." It almost seems to roll off a piano bar that sits poolside, the rippling blue reflecting into the night. It's a very slow methodic seduction that devours your imagination.

Article Author: Mark Runyon

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