Wondered if anyone had checked out Jamie Cullum of late. It must admit that I had written this programme off as a series programme about jazz and his choice of play lists tend to be a bit left -field to say the least. There is also a problem with his interviews which do not really delve in to the music of his guests. However, I was really staggered to see that this week's guest was Kate Bush who was plugging a new album which, from the clips I have heard, sees her music moving even closer to jazz and away from pop / rock. I will make no bones about my enthusiasm for her music and the fact that there is very much a musical intelligence in the manner with which she works. It is interesting to listen to her most recent work and see how it fits in a jazz context - my perception is that many jazz fans will get a lot from her music and if "Jazz library" is able to define the music broadly enough to include such diverse singers as Louis Jordan, Bing Crosby and Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush's current direction , it doesn't seem unreasonable for Cullum to feature her recent music. I'm not quite sure how much Cullum actually recognised the music as being inspired by more contemporary jazz. Intrigued also that there was no mention of ECM within the interview, not only because of the impression the music gives but perhaps also due to the fact the Eberhard Weber has been a frequent collaborator with the singer in the past.
The interview did raise some interesting responses from the singer / song-writer who isn't quite as jazz-savvy as I would have imagined although she was very eloquent in her respect for musician's such as Steve Gadd who have the ability to put her ideas down on the manuscript. There were some curious comments about the form of songs where the comments recalled Herbie Nichols to my mind as his tunes were unpinned by a similar degree of originality. It was curious to hear Kate Bush talk about time signatures as pieces like "This woman's work" are great examples of how the meter alternates throughout the composition. Curiously , she mentioned that she had no inkling as to how the music actually would be notated and Cullum then responded that this was exactly the same for him.
The interview can be played again by following this link:-
This is quite fascinating as it raises questions that have been the subject of debate for years with my mother who has always been sceptical that musicians are conscious when they are improvising or in the process of creation as to what the music is doing either harmonically or with regard to time signatures. I don't agree with this and think that most musicians are aware of what is happening in their music but the Kate Bush example is one which surprised me by dealing with a musician who appears to be really switched on with music actually creating advanced musical ideas but maybe not totally appreciative of just how original the ideas are.
All in all, the interview gave a good insight despite Cullum's repeated sycophant tendancies. The rest of the programme has little to do with jazz other than a Sun Ra track. Not a great example of following on in Humph's footsteps but the style of presentation and degree of knowledge demonstrated for his subject does make you wonder where exactly Cullum's loyalties lie. I caught him live last year and he was far better than I had imagined although I think he is very much on the fringes of jazz. Even singers like Steve Tyrell are more authentic as jazz performers but as a presenter Cullum's judgement as a jazz presenter is extremely tenuous. A jazz programme for people who don't want to listen to jazz?
The interview did raise some interesting responses from the singer / song-writer who isn't quite as jazz-savvy as I would have imagined although she was very eloquent in her respect for musician's such as Steve Gadd who have the ability to put her ideas down on the manuscript. There were some curious comments about the form of songs where the comments recalled Herbie Nichols to my mind as his tunes were unpinned by a similar degree of originality. It was curious to hear Kate Bush talk about time signatures as pieces like "This woman's work" are great examples of how the meter alternates throughout the composition. Curiously , she mentioned that she had no inkling as to how the music actually would be notated and Cullum then responded that this was exactly the same for him.
The interview can be played again by following this link:-
This is quite fascinating as it raises questions that have been the subject of debate for years with my mother who has always been sceptical that musicians are conscious when they are improvising or in the process of creation as to what the music is doing either harmonically or with regard to time signatures. I don't agree with this and think that most musicians are aware of what is happening in their music but the Kate Bush example is one which surprised me by dealing with a musician who appears to be really switched on with music actually creating advanced musical ideas but maybe not totally appreciative of just how original the ideas are.
All in all, the interview gave a good insight despite Cullum's repeated sycophant tendancies. The rest of the programme has little to do with jazz other than a Sun Ra track. Not a great example of following on in Humph's footsteps but the style of presentation and degree of knowledge demonstrated for his subject does make you wonder where exactly Cullum's loyalties lie. I caught him live last year and he was far better than I had imagined although I think he is very much on the fringes of jazz. Even singers like Steve Tyrell are more authentic as jazz performers but as a presenter Cullum's judgement as a jazz presenter is extremely tenuous. A jazz programme for people who don't want to listen to jazz?
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