Jamie Cullum

With 4 million albums sold and with a Grammy, BRIT and 2 Golden Globe nominations under his belt, Jamie Cullum continues to be a British success story around the globe; the most successful UK jazz artist ever.

Jamie never even dared dream all this could be possible. Born in Essex and raised in Wiltshire, he was obsessed with all types of music from an early age discovering jazz as a teenager, entranced the moment he firstheard Miles Davis. By the time he went to university to study English, Jamie was working as a singer-pianist in pubs, hotels, cruise ships and anywhere else that would have him.

"I didn’t dream of being a pop star or anything. I never thought I had the talent or the confidence or the ability to do this so it came up and surprised me. I made albums but I wasn’t even selling them to record companies, I was just selling them at gigs and I didn’t really think much more about it."

Word spread, Jamie moved to London and specialist jazz label Candid released his second album, ‘Pointless Nostalgic’, to a flurry of interest in jazz circles. Jamie continued gigging, by then a regular fixture at wedding receptions and Soho Pizza Express. Universal Classics and Jazz came to see what all the fuss was about, finally signing a £1 million record deal with Jamie in April 2003. ‘Twentysomething’ Jamie’s first major label album(2003)tore down musical barriers between pop and jazz, it juxtaposed unique arrangements of jazz standards with a handful of his own original compositions and startling versions of songs by Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Buckley. Within months, it had sold an incredible 2.5 million copies, making ‘Twentysomething’ the fastest selling jazz album in UK history with Jamie now the highest selling UK jazz artist ever. Nominated for a Grammy Award, the success of ‘Twentysomething’ saw Jamie undertake a two year long tour spreading his success worldwide.

Jamie’s stunning next album, ‘Catching Tales’ (2005) bursts with all the experiences and new music he encountered on his travels. It moved album sales past 4 million and he set out on a tour that would see him headline in 40 countriesaround the Globe. From Tokyo to Sao Paulo. From the Hollywood Bowl to The Tower of London and all places in between. It saw him perform a private show for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the British Royal family, and perform alongside Pharrell Williams, Herbie Hancock, Kylie Minogue and Stevie Wonder. It has seen him play the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Bahrain and at the Café Mambo, Ibiza.

Alongside this touring Jamie wrote and performed music for such successful movies as ‘Bridget Jones:The Edge Of Reason’ and ‘Meet The Robinsons’. He collaborated with Clint Eastwood on the Grammy nominated movie ‘Grace Is Gone’ and with brother Ben he wrote the music for the London, West End stage play ‘WhenHarry Met Sally’. He hosted radio shows for the BBC and theJazz and has been anchor for the VH-1 broadcast from SXSW.

2008 kept Jamie busy, performing at the Hollywood Bowl with the Count Basie Orchestra, at the London Roundhouse with Burt Bacharach and at the Châtelet Theatre, Paris with french vocalist Camille. He performed at the Sonar Festival in Spain and Lovelands in Holland with tech-house heavyweight Darren Emerson. Gigs in Tokyo with Japanese collective Soil and Pimp Sessions followed, before returning to London to perform at a Nordoff Robbins Music Industry Trust dinner.  With Sugababes on backing vocals Jamie's own version of U2's 'Mysterious Ways' captivated the audience, including the band themselves.

Over the year much time was spent in L.A. writing and recording the Golden Globe nominated movie theme song to Clint Eastwood’s number one box office smash ‘Gran Torino’and completing his forthcoming album set for release in 2009.