Cullum keeping coy about costume
Written by Writer on Thursday, October 30th, 2008
Cullum keeping coy about costume
Stephen Taylor / Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer
The last time Jamie Cullum talked to The Daily Yomiuri was on the phone from a toilet in Lisbon about two years ago, so when I got through to his mobile phone on Tuesday, I was curious to know where he was this time.
“Currently I’m sitting on a baggage belt in Charles de Gaulle [Airport], so it doesn’t get any more glamorous, I’m afraid,” he said.
Having played a concert in Paris the night before, he was about to board a plane to London before jumping on a Tokyo-bound flight.
Cullum will be headlining the “Where is the Music?” event at Yebisu Garden Hall in Ebisu, Tokyo, tonight and Saturday when he will be joined on stage by Japanese jazz group Soil and Pimp Sessions. The British jazz pianist and singer is relishing the prospect.
“I love Soil and Pimp. I did a gig with them at a similar time this time last year, the Electric Proms for the BBC. I’ve met them and I know their music well and we had a great gig in London last year,” he enthused.
Cullum originally got into Soil and Pimp Sessions through English deejay Gilles Peterson’s radio show on BBC, After visiting Japan, he found that his admiration for the group was reciprocated.
“When I played in Tokyo they actually came to see me play and we hung out and we went out and we partied together, we had a good time and we became friends,” he explained.
And while Cullum and Soil and Pimp Sessions may not be fluent in each other’s languages, they find other ways to communicate.
“All of that band speak the universal language of music very, very well, and what we may lack in being able to talk to each other we make up for in [music],” he said.
While Cullum will close the show, he will be keen to catch the group that will take the stage before him.
“Medeski, Martin and Wood are one of those bands I’ve been into for about 10 years, one of those bands I’ve traveled great distances to see play many, many times so that’s very, very exciting. I would say I’ve actually been strongly influenced by their music as well so that’s incredible, to be hanging out with them and then having a jam on the last day, so that’s gonna be fun,” he said.
Saturday’s show will feature more acoustic music, while tonight’s session will celebrate Halloween, with the audience urged to turn up in fancy dress. The best three costumes will each receive an iPod nano, while there will be four runners-up prizes. Of course, Cullum will be getting into the spirit of things.
“Everyone dresses so well in Tokyo–and Japan in general–so I knew that we’d have to put a little bit of effort into our costumes, ’cause I’m sure that everyone will be dressed up pretty cleverly,” he said.
And without wishing to give too much away, he offered a hint at his choice of attire.
“I’ll give you a clue. I’m very fond of costumes where I’m a little bit like the person I’m getting dressed up as. Although I’ll still look very different, it’s not a stretch to imagine me as this character,” he said before adding emphatically, “And it’s not Harry Potter!”
Having made several trips to Japan, Cullum’s admiration for the country stretches far beyond the Soil and Pimp Sessions.
“I have nothing but massively fond memories ,because I’ve always been a big fan of the country and the culture….[There's] a certain sense of a country being like itself rather than like everywhere else in the world,” he said.
“Where is the Music?” featuring Jamie Cullum with Soil and Pimp Sessions, Medeski, Martin and Wood and Cyro Baptista and Banquet of the Spirits will be held tonight, 7 p.m., and Saturday, 5:30 p.m., at Yebisu Garden Hall in Ebisu, Tokyo. For more information call (03) 5760-7211 or visit www.wism2008.com.
(Oct. 31, 2008)
