Interlude
Jamie Cullum
(Blue Note)
Three stars
Jamie Cullum has always been a "record nerd" at heart. Interlude marks the 35-year-old's return to traditional jazz and his first album since his self-released 1999 debut Heard It All Before that doesn't include any original compositions.
There are familiar standards such as My One and Only Love, more obscure jazz tunes such as Cannonball Adderley's Sack o' Woe, a Ray Charles R&B tune, Don't You Know, and Lovesick Blues, which was popularised by Hank Williams. Even several contemporary songs receive the smooth Cullum treatment, a highlight being the singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens' The Seer's Tower. Cullum also gives back in two winning duets with up-and-coming singers he featured on his BBC2 radio show.
A stand-out is his collaboration with the British R&B vocalist Laura Mvula on the Billie Holiday classic Good Morning Heartache. It's the passion for digging up obscure recordings that distinguishes his Interlude from other retro "standards" collections.
