Reviewing Jamie Cullum’s debut album for Candid in the September 2002 edition of Jazzwise, I noted that his “mellifluous tone, clarity of diction, fluid relationship with the pulse and proclivity for taking chances – coupled with his exciting pianism – clearly mark him out as a young artist with immense potential.”

Of course, you didn’t need to be a soothsayer to predict great things for Cullum, although if you’d said he would go on to be the biggest selling British jazz artist of all time, it might have raised one or two eyebrows.

Mixing standards and originals, the sardonic humour and perky swagger of Cullum’s own ‘I Want To Be A Popstar’ sounds like an unearthed artefact from the Bob Dorough/Dave Frishberg songbook, and it’s no surprise to see them both represented on the track list by way of Dorough’s ‘Devil May Care’ and Frishberg’s ‘Lookin’ Good’ – both highlights (and both featured on Dorough and Frishberg’s fine 2000 Blue Note live album, Who’s on First?).

From the lonesome, chorale-like horn intro to ‘In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning’ and a standout take on Radiohead’s ‘High And Dry’, to a risk-taking ‘Well You Needn’t’, there’s lots to enjoy here. Cullum receives stellar support from bassist Geoff Gascoyne, drummer Sebastiaan de Krom, plus a quartet of horns that includes Dave O’Higgins.