Jamie Cullum's Glittering Career: All Jazzed Up

Musical stars old and new have illuminated jazz sensation Jamie Cullum's glittering career, writes Brittany Panter.

- Brittany Panter

Jamie Cullum is friendly and relaxed as he steps into a makeshift interview room at The St. Regis Macao, a sister property of Marina Bay Sands. Having arrived late the previous evening, the British jazz artist is in town for the gala opening of the hotel and in his capacity as a St. Regis Connoisseur. Cullum also helms the Jazz Legends at St. Regis series of concerts, which kicked off in April 2015 to showcase accomplished and promising musicians at the brand’s luxurious properties around the world.

One major source of inspiration for Cullum was American hip hop and jazz-rap group A Tribe Called Quest. “They were a huge influence because not only was their music using jazz music as samples, but the rap references a lot of jazz musicians by name,” he says of the new York-based combo, who disbanded in 1998. “Also, in the cadence and rhythmic way they rap, you can relate back to the way people like Charlie parker improvised. It’s really interesting when you play them alongside each other. You can really hear those influences.”

growing up not far from the English city of Bristol, a hotbed of musical innovation during the 1990s when “a lot of amazing drum and bass and rave music was happening”, Cullum became a keen collector of records, and he soon noticed that three names kept cropping up: Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis and Roy Ayers. “I just started collecting this music and it really spoke to me,” he says. “Those three artists were really important to me and are my kind of greats.”