British born pianist and vocalist Jamie Cullum is a fresh new artist worth your attention.

He has released his second CD titled Catching Tales as a follow up to his fist outing Twentysomething.

I find Cullum's music to be very refreshing because it's not exactly jazz, pop, soul or even hip-hop. It's kind of an amalgamation of all of the above mentioned genres and is very good. In today's world who limits their music collection to just on genre anyway, and why would you.

Gone are the days when an artist forces him or herself to fit neatly into one category to satisfy radio station formats or even record store categories. The early days of Lyle Lovett come to mind. Not that Cullum's music reminds me of Lovett at all but rather the way his music simply does not fit into any category that I can think of right off hand.

Let me say, clearly I'm loving this young new guy and his old fashioned music. Cullum's first two CD's are so good one can't help but wonder how good his future releases will be as he matures as an artist. If he can create songs like track 5, Nothing I Do, track 6, Mind Trick and track 2, London Skies while still only in his mid twenties, imagine the tunes he'll be cranking out as a seasoned musician and songwriter.

Like Twentysomething, throughout Catching Tales you will hear a variety of influences and musical styles. At times reflecting Harry Connick Jr. and others a little Michael Buble, and still other times reminding you of a Tony Bennett.

All of the the songs on the CD are Cullum originals and the lyrics are offbeat and very youthful. Cullum's husky, sometimes gravelly voice sounds great even when he eases into high notes.

The big band jazz sound of Nothing I Do is nothing short of brilliant, and the closing track, My Yard features some awesome acoustics.

Overall Catching Tales is an excellent contribution by the young and clearly very talented Cullum and would be a great addition to your music collection. It's quite simply a very entertaining CD.

The standout tunes are Get Your Way [track 1], London Skies [track 2], and 7 Days To Change Your Life [track 11]. My SmoothLee Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 6, Mind Trick. Very nice!

Release Notes:

This CD was originally released October 11, 2005 on the Verve Forecast record label.

CD track list follows:

1. Get Your Way
2. London Skies
3. Photograph
4. I Only Have Eyes For You
5. Nothing I Do
6. Mind Trick
7. 21st Century Kid
8. I'm Glad There Is You
9. Oh God
10. Catch The Sun
11. 7 Days To Change Your Life
12. Our Day Will Come
13. Back To The Ground
14. My Yard

To hear samples of each song on this CD go to Jamie Cullum CD - Catching Tales [ www.smoothlee.com/music-samples/jamie-cullum-catching-tales.htm ]

Clyde Dennis

Clyde Dennis is a self described "Web Head" and has been bumping around on the world wide web for a good longtime.

A life long music fan, smooth jazz in particular, Clyde splits his time between writing CD reviews for several websites and doing a daily radio show.