JAMIE CULLUM: (Singing) Well, don't you know, baby? Well, don't you know, baby? Now, don't you know, baby?
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
That's Jamie Cullum singing Ray Charles's "Don't You Know." It's just one of the many songs from the American songbook that's featured on Jamie Cullum's seventh album, "Interlude." Jamie Cullum is the United Kingdom's most successful contemporary jazz musician. He has collaborated with Sir Paul McCartney, Clint Eastwood and Pharrell Williams. We won't mention all the awards he's won. We can't. Time won't permit. And there was a time when you might've seen him performing at a clothing shop. Jamie Cullum joins us now in NPR's Studio One. Thanks so much for being with us.
CULLUM: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.
SIMON: Playing in a clothing shop?
CULLUM: Yeah, well, clothes is an interesting word to use. It was actually in the - kind of a ladies' undergarment part of a department store.
SIMON: That's an even more interesting...
CULLUM: Yes, it is, really, isn't it? It was a tough gig, that one. It was in Marks & Spencer's. You know Marks & Spencer's over here?
SIMON: Of course. Yes, yes, they're famous. There are Americans who will only get their underwear at Marks & Sparks, as it's called, because it's famously durable.
CULLUM: That's how I earned my living from the age of 15, really. I got my first kind of piano gig. Apart from being in bands, you know, I would be the piano player in various places. And one day, it was 75 pounds for playing all afternoon in the particular department of Marks & Spencer's.
SIMON: Let's hear a song, if we may.
CULLUM: OK. Why don't I play "Make Someone Happy" for you now?
SIMON: Wonderful.
CULLUM: (Singing) Make someone happy. Make just one someone happy. Make just one heart the heart you sing to. One smile that cheers you. One face that lights when it's near you. One girl you're everything to. Fame, if you win it, comes and goes in a minute. Where's the real stuff of life to cling to? Love is the answer. Someone to love is the answer. Once you've found her, build your world around her. Make someone happy. Make just one someone happy. And you will be happy, too. Fame, if you win it, comes and goes in a minute. Where's the real stuff of life to cling to? Love is the answer. Someone to love is the answer. Once you've found her, build your world around her. Make someone happy. Make just one someone happy. And you will be happy, too.
SIMON: Boy, that's absolutely beautiful.
CULLUM: Thank you.
SIMON: I have read interviews where you say you're not a particularly good pianist, or at least not a natural pianist.
CULLUM: No, no, I mean, I'm not. And I say that with no kind of false modesty. It's just that I've never studied. You know, I don't read music. I play completely by ear. So I just kind of learned. You know, I grew up playing in rock bands and discovered jazz a bit later. And my version of it is something that's still evolving. I'm more of a communicator than a technician.
SIMON: Can we hear another song?
CULLUM: Sure. I'll play something a bit more up for you. And you played a little bit at the top of the show. But Ray Charles is a real root into jazz for me. The kind of world he came from I know nothing about, but I can hear it through his music. And we can all sing about love and sex and what we need, and Ray Charles, I think, sang that better than anyone. And, you know, as a teenager, that resonated with me, and I think I'll spend the rest of my life trying to be Ray Charles.
(Singing) Well, don't you know, baby? Well, don't you know, baby? Little girl, little girl, don't you know? Please listen to me, baby. Girl, I'm in love with you so. Turn your lamp down low. Turn your lamp down low. Woo, turn your lamp down low. Turn your lamp down low. Come on now, now, baby. Girl, I'm in love with you so. Now, you know I've been away for such a long time. But now, baby, I can't get you off my mind. So come on now, baby. Come on, come on now, child. Oh, listen to me, baby. Love your daddy all night long. If you love me like I love you, we can do all the things that we used to do. Now, come on now, baby. Come on, come on now, child. Oh, listen to me, baby. Love your daddy all night long. Turn your lamp down low 'cause I love you so. Baby, baby, please come on. Baby, baby, please come on. Hear me talking with my baby. Love you, daddy, all night long.
SIMON: That's just terrific.
CULLUM: (Laughter) Thank you.
SIMON: What's it like to be a kid in rural England and hear Ray Charles?
CULLUM: I had pretty cool parents, so they had some good stuff on our record player at home. So I was exposed pretty early to Nina Simone. You know, Eric Clapton was a real, you know, was someone we listened to a lot in our house. My mom and dad never had the chance to be musicians for a job, but they used to play in bands. When my older brother was a little boy, my mom and dad would go out on the weekends to earn extra money in a covers band. My mom was playing bass guitar and singing. My dad was playing guitar, as well. My granddad was playing saxophone.
SIMON: Can I get you talk about your grandparents? They were very important to you.
CULLUM: On my mother's side, she was born in Burma. So my grandmother was Burmese. My grandfather - he was an orphan. And we think he was Indian. And on my father's side, he was born in Jerusalem. His mother escaped Nazi Germany at just the right time. But my grandfather on that side was English. He was from Kent.
SIMON: Can you draw a line between you as a performing artist now and things you learned from any of your grandparents, things you heard with them, any clues to life?
CULLUM: It's curiosity. And, actually, one thing I always say about getting to do this for a living is the gift isn't the talent. That is, you know, many people have talent. And the gift is actually being able to follow it up and make it your career. And, you know, I'm certainly the first generation in my family that's been able to just follow a dream that I had. You know, I liked - I used to sit around, listening to records, playing the guitar and working the stuff out on the piano. And I've had the great privilege to make that my life, so...
SIMON: I'm fascinated by the debt you owe your parents and grandparents when you say you're the first generation that's been able to follow a dream. That's a very thoughtful observation about generations.
CULLUM: Well, my parents grew up having to think about just how to be responsible and have more than their parents did and how to just make life work. They certainly wanted to steer my brother and I in the direction of something that was more, shall we say, stable. But when they saw that we had talent and desire in music, they were like, look, go for it. You know, my dad says I wouldn't choose to be in finance if I could do my life all over again. But it gave us a good life and we're having a good life and, you know, I admire that as well. And, you know, we're a lucky generation. I hope we don't mess it up. There's a lot of messy things around, that's for sure.
SIMON: You're going to play us out with another song.
CULLUM: Yeah. I'd love to, although, I'm always a bit frightened to play it because it's written by one of my truly great living heroes, and it's a Randy Newman song called "Losing You."
SIMON: Well, I really want to hear this. And I thank you for being with us. It's been terrific.
CULLUM: Thank you for having me.
SIMON: Stay tuned while Jamie Cullum plays us out. His latest album, "Interlude," will come out next week on January 27. He'll also be on tour in select cities in North America next month. Thanks so much.
CULLUM: Thank you for having me. It's been great to be here.
(Singing) Was a fool with my money and I lost every dime, sun stopped shining and it rained all the time. It did set me back some, but I made it through. But I'll never get over losing you. Do you know how much you mean to me? Should've told you...
SIMON: This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.