I'm posting this here, instead of the Jazz forum, because I detest the mindless vandalism he displays to perfectly harmless pianos. I've never actually seen or heard Cullum play the piano, I have however witnessed his episodes of 'piano walking', 'piano thumping', 'keyboard sitting' and 'lid slamming'. He shouldn't be let within ten miles of a piano.

Yeah this came up a few years ago when he did a variety show performance and I have to say that I agree with you on your points, however if you do a search of the forum you'll be able to find a post or two talking about him in a positive manner. I think somebody stumbled across him in a London jazz club not too long ago. Have a look

I quite agree. I have tried to listen to some of his music as well. His playing is OK but his singing treads the wrong side of the fine line between jazz and being flat and off key for me. I bought one of his albums and quickly donated it to my local library. Overhyped in my opinion.

Considering he's one of the few men shorter than me (by one inch...he's 5ft 4)...I'd have to say i quite like the chap. Apart from that, his improvising is good and he's handy on guitar too, but he definitely needs to relax more.

I quite like Jamie Cullum.

Me too: He's definitely "off centre", but I like that!

Did you ever see Jerry Lee Lewis play a Piano ?

I personally can't stand him, but if he is going to abuse piano's like this he should take a leaf out of Elton John's or Zimmerman's book and take his own piano to the venue. He played in the Jazz festival at Cheltenham town hall a couple of years back and stamped on the Steinway - Now this is a very valuable community facility (Steinway D cost £64k) and should be treated with more respect.

Really? That's a bit out of order...

I'm not terribly keen on him for that reason - the first time I saw him he was kicking the piano and I thought to myself, "That lad's a bit of an idiot..."

Give me Harry Connick Jr. anyday...

That would be me. I've seen Jamie play a couple of times (post fame) in a very small venue, once as the headline act, once as a guest. Both times I really enjoyed his performances, they were professional, musically assured and had something of the X-factor. Both times the fact that he was actually a nice guy came through - on the first occasion after his set he became the pianist in the house band for an open mic set. He did a great job of accompanying, putting the singers at ease, not stealing their show and was happy playing off scribbled charts with last minute instructions as to the key, form etc. On the second occasion he was the guest performer for one song at a CD launch. He came on stage, performed his song (very well) applauded the rest of the band and went off in a very unstarry manner making sure the attention was firmly focussed on the band where it belonged.

I've also spoken to a couple of musicians who've played with Jamie both pre and post fame. They all attest to the fact that he is the real deal as far as musicianship is concerned, and a nice guy.

As for the piano bashing - I've not seen it, so I can't really comment

Some people like fruit cake, others like cheese: Me, I like them both!

(Especially iced Christmas cake and Wensleydale cheese, on the same plate and accompanied by a glass of single malt!)

A man after my own heart!
But not with icing on it, surely!
My mother's Christmas cakes were topped with almonds. Lovely.


A
(Sorry - bit off topic)