There are a lot of firsts when it comes to music journalism, and this is the first time I have reviewed Jamie Cullum. My thoughts on him before listening to the album revolved around the fact that he’s an inspiring jazz pianist, but I didn’t quite know what to make of him as an artist. My thoughts afterwards are somewhat the same.
‘The Pursuit’ impresses and puzzles in equal measure. At times there are hints of classic jazz influences, recognisable arrangements, and smooth melodies, at others the experiments kick in, and I’m not quite sure what to make of them. With this CD it’s a case of expect the unexpected. The album begins for example with ‘Just One Of Those Things’, a track that starts off at a slow pace, but continues at a surprisingly fast tempo, with a slightly puzzling arrangement. There’s also the final track ‘Music Is Through’ which has an odd and very sudden ending, ‘If I Ruled The World’ with it’s rather sedate melodies. These tracks didn’t quite work for me, and the sudden bursts of experimentation on some other songs were a little puzzling, though still held my interest.
The lead single from the album ‘I’m All Over It’ has a melody and lyrics that will easily stick in your head, and the lively ‘You And Me Are Gone’ is another track that is easy to get into. The piano playing is fast and effortless on up-tempo numbers like these, but he can do subtle too. ‘I Think, I Love’ goes for a slow chilled out lounge vibe, while he’s also created a delightful after-dark mood with his cover of the Rihanna song ‘Don’t Stop The Music’. There are tracks that are high on sentiment too, such as ‘Ain’t Gonna Let You Down’, and ‘Not While I’m Around’, which would be perfect in a film.
After giving the album a good listen, I found myself with not one, but two favourite tracks. My first pick is ‘Wheels’, as I really enjoyed the piano arrangements, and lyrics in this; it has a structure I could recognise and relate to, it had a nice atmosphere to it as well. My other pick has to be ‘Mix Tape’. This song is I think, a little more commercial and has a wider appeal than some of the others. The music is very catchy, and it has a great lyrical theme/story to it. These are experiments that have definitely paid off, and made the album for me.
The exploding piano on the album artwork indicates that this was never going to be a typical Jazz album, and from that point of view I think Jamie did what he set out to do. Having read his track by track low-down, it’s also interesting to read how all the songs came about, and where they were recorded. Whilst this style of music isn’t something I’d normally buy, it still intrigues me, and though some of the ‘experiments’ weren’t as strong as others, there were some definite strong points. I guess the thing is, we like to know who an artist is, and where they’re going, and with Jamie Cullum, it’s not always easy to grasp these things. Wherever ‘The Pursuit’ leads him though, it’s sure to be an interesting journey, so keep your eyes open for this album, who knows you might just love it?!
‘The Pursuit’ is available from November 9th 2009. For more information on Jamie visit www.jamiecullum.com, and keep your eyes peeled, for a great interview with the man himself!
Now for a start the arrangement of ‘Just One of Those Things’ that you are so eager to slate is in fact by Frank Foster (look him up). I think that fact speaks for itself, though I would just like to clarify that it is usual, even expected, for a jazz standard to open with a slow introductory section. The track makes use of the original Cole Porter arrangement, as well as borrowing a lick from Monk (which I personally feel is very well used). Now I do not generally take issue with reviews that have a negative stance, but I feel it shows a serious lack of journalistic insight to not be able to present the facts, or give a sense of balance. In your criticism of the arrangement you have ignored all of these classic influences, and so have automatically discredited your own review.
I think you need to qualify your use of the term puzzling. The album is very poppy, and so for the most part I don’t see how the songs could puzzle a person, though, obviously I would be interested to hear an actual dissection of the difficulties that the tracks experience, this is always useful in a review. I personally believe that the variation of tempos and styles used in the songs provides a lot of the interest. This is something that a lot of modern music is lacking, take the reggae breakdown three and a half minutes into ‘mixtape’ for example.
Now obviously the album isn’t ever going to straight down the line jazz. This is, after all, Jamie Cullum. However, I don’t think that his non-Jazz tracks need to be considered as experiments (failed or otherwise). He knows what he’s doing, after all he has been at it a while!
Either way, I think your review is absolutely right to point out the flaws in the album, but I think you need to be more coherent and justified in your criticism. This review just served to infuriate me rather than inform me, and so now I have bought and listened to the album I feel a need to post my thoughts just to settle the score. Give it a bit more thought next time.
Thank you for replying, we always welcome feedback on our posts, and it’s useful to hear of things we can better explain and expand. I think the point you make about standard Jazz introductions isn’t entirely relevant however, as I am simply giving my opinion on what I am hearing, whether it is traditional and true to the genre or not. Also every journalist comes at a CD from a different angle,
and with different writing styles, skill sets, and knowledge….the same goes for readers…so where some of his fans for example find the point of view of a pop fan interesting, other readers like you look for something different. It’s natural and not to be slated.
So a review is not necessarily going to be a run down of all the songs and their backgrounds, or an indepth analysis of musical arrangements. I had a press release and track by track rundown to refer to, and in that Jamie speaks of how he experiments with ways or recording and musical arrangements, but I appreciate some things can be taken in a different way. I have tried to be honest and fair, whether people agree with that or not is all part and parcel of the business we call music.
Also, not while I’m around is by Sondheim, from Sweeney Todd… Which was made into a film!