Jamie Cullum - Live at Blenheim Palace DVD

Instead of taking the sodden Glastonbury option, Jamie Cullum has chosen the comfort and grace of Live At Blenheim Palace for his summer 2004 festival documentary. This sprawling Baroque manor near Oxford provides an ideal setting for swooping, atmospheric camerawork, with the casually-attired Cullum acting as an incongruous focal point. Jamie commands the stage space with a confidence that belies his tender years, ignoring the usual limitations of the performer's body. He's often found under the piano, or dancing on top of its lid, or even inside, using the entire... instrument as a percussion tool. He's constantly running around the stage, interacting with his band, bounding down to shake hands with the front rows. This is an exhaustive record of where Cullum's stage show currently stands. It's a lesson in how to entertain an audience whilst maintaining musical integrity. Jamie is modest about his jazz credentials but has excellent taste when recruiting his regular team of bassist Geoff Gascoyne and drummer Sebastiaan De Kromm. Cullum's horn section also boasts the presence of trombonist Barnaby Dickinson and saxophonist Ben Castle, two of the UK scene's brightest newcomers. The camerawork doesn't distract, but still has a dynamic sense, managing to keep track of Cullum's antics from a variety of quick-edit angles. There isn't much preamble, with the concert presented in straightforward manner. In-between each cluster of songs, there's a selection of documentary inserts, showing Jamie on tour in the USA, playing at Glastonbury, paying homage to the 1950s beat poets and meeting his (mostly female) autograph hunters. "I wonder if it's possible that I could touch your arse?," asks one, but we don't get to hear his reply. Extras include the trio busking in San Francisco (with no audience gathered, funnily enough), more Glastonbury footage, an excerpt from the South Bank Show special and the videos of "All At Sea", "These Are The Days" and "The Wind Cries Mary". --Martin Longley [show more]

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