Jamie Cullum tour hits Yorkshire - how love for his wife Sophie Dahl inspired his new songs

Critically-acclaimed Jamie Cullum is on his way to Yorkshire as part of his headline tour Taller to showcase songs from album of the same name.
Jamie CullumJamie Cullum
Jamie Cullum

His dynamic live performances have always captured the attention of the audience through Jamie’s undeniable energy, boundless talent and stage presence.

Jamie said: "It’s going to be so fun playing this new music out on tour with my incredible band. We’re going to draw on these new songs and reinvent plenty of old ones too. The Taller tour is going to be a memorable one.”

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Triple Platinum selling musician and multi-instrumentalist, Jamie Cullum, released ‘Taller’ (Expanded Edition) - 10 of his original songs, accompanied by eight new and unheard tracks. Disc 2 included two new Christmas songs, as well as six tracks from his covers project, Song Society.

The latest album ‘Taller’ sees Jamie explore more personal subject matter with a fresh sense of authenticity, each song reflecting a desire to grow and learn and explore life for the beautiful muddle it is.

Title track Taller lyrically shows an emotional honesty which is explored throughout the album. Of title track Taller Jamie said: “Historically there has been jokes about my physical stature and being married to a taller woman - model Sophie Dahl - so I wanted to own it.

"Using this as a jumping off point it became a song about the need to grow within your relationship and meet each other eye to eye, allowing room for both darkness and light.”

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Other tracks on the album have prominent funk, pop and gospel influences such as Usher, Drink and the powerful Mankind, whose lyrics are a soulful collective call for an alienated society.

What’s obvious throughout the album is that Jamie is not seeking approval, but writing music which feels true to him, letting his feelings dictate the creative process.

Jamie said: "This album is really a love letter to my wife. It’s an album of my songs that takes stock of where I am right now. They were my working notes for life. My ‘Fortysomething' if you will. I wanted to put aside whether it was a jazz record, whether it was ticking this or that box. The songs would be king and they would be honest. I feel more proud of this than anything I’ve done’’

With 10 million album sales to date and his successful BBC Radio 2 Radio show, Jamie Cullum is a celebrated musician the world over with loyal fans in every corner of the globe. With a career spanning over 20 years, his legendary live shows have seen him perform and work alongside artists as diverse as Herbie Hancock , Pharrell Williams, Kendrick Lamar and Lang Lang, whilst the success of his major label breakthrough, Twentysomething and its follow up Catching Tales saw him nominated for a BRIT, Grammy and numerous other awards around the world.

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In addition to his enduringly successful recording career, he has also established himself as a multi-award winning music broadcaster. He approaches all aspects of his career, as he has from the beginning, as both a fan and a student with seemingly boundless creativity and enthusiasm.

Jamie Cullum Taller stops at York Barbican on Wednesday March 11.

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