Donna Ledbetter 2008-10-28

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

I'm really a big fan of Jamie Cullum. That's why this CD gets two stars instead of one. The CD cover tells you this production will include music by artists that influence Cullum, and that's all right. But it does not tell you how discombobulated and how poorly put together the selections will be. One song's jazz, then it switches up to rap or new age. If a person's not prepared for those transitions, it can really interfere with a listening experience.

What would have been better is to have had Cullum perform all of his favorites. Or simply to have put more thought into how the songs appeared on the CD.

My honest opinion: stick to the pure Cullum. Borrow a friend's copy and then return it.

Thomas M. 2008-01-01

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

ONLY CONTAINS TWO CULLUM's SONG. Amazon's product description is vague. The cover is very misleading, too. Like others, I thought this would be Jamie Cullum's latest CD. It's not. It's just a compilation of songs by others and not even similar to Cullum's own music. I'll give 5 starts to Twenty Something and Catching Tales, none to this one.

music fan 2007-10-29

10 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

I thought this would be a jamie cullum cd. it isn't. except for a couple of tracks, it's music performed by other people, written by other people. I guess it's supposed to be music jamie cullum likes to listen to, but why would any sane person pay money for that? I never would have bought the cd if i'd known what it was, and the product description certainly did not explain what I was getting. And, once I opened it to find out I'd been duped, it was too late to send it back to amazon under their return policy. the whole thing was a deceptive rip off.

M. Roberts 2007-10-14

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

Off the bat if should be said that this is NOT a Jamie Cullum CD.

I mean this in that Jamie is not singing most of these songs and that Cullums songs are more of a pop-infused jazz and a lot of his influences are much different than that(lots of jazz).

This out of the way, this album is great for its purpose. The purpose of the album is to get into the mind of Jamie and where his influences came from.

This album accomplishes its purpose and furthermore, it has included probably now one of my favorite Jamie Cullum songs "I'd Probably Do It Again".

A good buy for any Jamie Cullum fan who wants an insight on where Jamie obtained his musical taste and talent.

unplug and listen 2007-10-08

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

Echoing the inaugural set by flamenco guitarist, soundtrack composer and songwriter Indian Nitin Sawnhey by taking a similarly meandering and 'hip' approach In the Mind of Nitin Sawhney, this album marks Jamie Cullum's first ever compilation project and includes one original composition and a new classic jazz cover.
With over 2.5 million albums sold to date, Cullum is undoubtedly a jazz phenomenon.
Regularly covering a huge selection of artists and genres in his live show, he jumped at the chance to express his influences on this compilation album.
"People ask why I play jazz", he comments. "It's because you can take it to so many different places. You can embrace dance music, rock, pop music, classical, funk, everything...
"And I touch on all those things in this record. This CD feels like a fantasy resumé", he adds, "or a mix tape I would make for a great friend or a really hot girl".
The CD is kind of his platform to compile some of his influences, and, actually, it's rather good.
Who'd have imagined Jamie would have a soft spot for drum 'n' bass (Roni Size), Brit hip-hop's most commanding voice, Roots Manuva (guesting with Cinematic Orchestra on "All things to all men") and Madlib's roaming tribute to the giants of jazz ("Jazz Cats Pt 1")?
Actually, what we have here is a trove of illuminating, varied and nicely sequenced picks: from Laurent Garnier (dance) through Charles Mingus (jazz great) to Elbow (intelligent Brit rock).
Even if sombre choral pieces aren't your thing, you'd have to admit Polyphony's "Sleep" makes for a decent ending.
Unsurprisingly, the two exclusive Jamie Cullum recordings are amongst the most skippable inclusions, but much of the rest is captivating.
This is another case of an artist's influences being more fascinating than the artist, this is a journey worth taking.
Thankfully, there are only two Jamie tracks here - the idea is for him to show us his influences and an inside view of his tastes. And his tastes are all over the place...
Enjoy !
The Namesake
Yesterdays Universe