Pierre Donahue
Opening with “Noswaith dda Swansea” the showman, who had clearly made an effort to learn some Welsh, warmly stated that he had really enjoyed exploring Swansea, the beautiful beach and especially Welsh cakes from Swansea market, which brought a cheer from those in attendance, especially those who know how good the welsh cakes are.
The now veteran musician, who seems to have found the secret of eternal youth, was in fine form and full of energy. When not content with just sitting at his piano, he stood on it, plucked the insides exuberantly during a cover of Everlasting Love, dabbled in a spot of electronica and even had time to run over and play the Congo’s.
In fact he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself in Wales, and went on to state that having played at venues all over the world, the new arena has some of the finest acoustics out there. A glowing review, and something repeated by enough other artists that it bodes well for the still relatively new venue.
The likable, multi-faceted star was the UK’s biggest selling jazz artist by the age of 24, at one point being billed “Sinatra in sneakers” and the “saviour of jazz”, which wether he wanted to be or not is the mantle that he was bestowed with on the release of his second album “Twentysomething” in 2003.
Over two decades on from that release, a winning mix of standards, originals and re-imaginings of songs by JImi Hendrix and Radiohead, Cullum is still covering and re-working well known songs by the likes of Ray Charles, Peter Gabriel, Rihanna and somewhat surprisingly Rage Against The Machine.
The genius of mixing genres with jazz is that it brings people together that might not ordinarily listen to it, and vice versa which is evidenced in the broad spectrum of people and ages in the audience.
Whilst perhaps he can’t be pigeon holed into one genre, its clearly still jazz that gets Cullum going, with the stellar pianist, crooner and longtime host of BBC Radio 2’s Jazz Show, often stripping back his 8 peice band to just double bass and drums, smoke rising from behind him reminiscent of the Jazz clubs of old.
It’s not then surprising when he took a minute to offer heartfelt congratulations to Swansea Jazz Club on reaching 75 years since its inception. A touching moment for the many in attendance who frequent it.
Towards the end of the over two hour set, the tempo noticeably increased, with the band rampaging from jazz to funk to Afro beat. Cullum urged the crowd out of their seats to dance wildly, something enthusiastically taken up by many. Prowling the stage, the band leader whipped the energy in the room up to fever pitch.
Finally, sat alone at the keys, with just a spotlight for company, Cullum ended the concert with crowd favourite “All at Sea” enchanting us all into a hushed silence. His line “Like a warm drink, it seeps into my soul” seemingly a fitting sentiment to end the night on.
