Cullum released his first album, Jamie Cullum Trio—Heard it All Before, in 1999. A mere 500 copies were made. Original copies have sold for as much as £600 (and above) on eBay. The success of Heard It All Before resulted in Jamie being invited to appear on Geoff Gascoyne's album Songs of the Summer. Cullum - who is completely self-taught, bar a few piano lessons as a youngster - released a best-selling album, Pointless Nostalgic. Following that, in April 2003 he signed a contract with Universal, for three albums, who beat Sony in a bidding war.
Cullum then started recording his third album, Twentysomething, in May of 2003, which was released in October 2003. It went platinum and became the #1 selling studio album by a jazz artist in the United Kingdom.
Although primarily a jazz musician, Cullum performs in a wide range of styles and is generally regarded as a "crossover" artist with his musical roots firmly based in jazz. Cullum draws his inspiration from many different musicians and listens to a very eclectic mix of music from Miles Davis to Tom Waits and many more.
Cullum names his brother as his biggest musical influence and claims he would not be making music if it wasn't for Ben Cullum.
Jamie Cullum is well known, not only for his abilities on the piano, but also for his unique entertainment style and charisma. One of the many things that features in Jamie's concerts is the "stompbox", made from a small wooden block. The stompbox is used to amplify a musician's tapping foot. Jamie found this in Australia and uses it to enhance upbeat and fast-paced songs such as Seven Nation Army originally by the White Stripes and "Gold Digger", originally by Kanye West. He is also often found using a looping machine. This plays a heavy part in Cullum's versions of other artists works. Cullum is also often found beatboxing at nearly every gig.
Numerous reviews have cited Cullum's gigs as indescribable, but most agree it's an eclectic experience. Not only does Cullum play songs from his albums, but nearly every concert will see Cullum cover something out of the ordinary. As previously mentioned he has been known to cover White Stripes, Kanye West as well as the likes of Massive Attack, Pussycat Dolls, Gnarls Barkley, Elton John, Justin Timberlake, John Legend, Joy Division and many others. Jamie's show are a forever evolving experience. No two gigs are the same and some avid fans prove this point by going to multiple shows in the same week. Cullum rarely works to a set list and on average his gigs last two and a half hours. Instead of a setlist he plays what he feels like and the gigs are improvised, meaning the shows are rooted in jazz even if the music doesn't always sound like it.
Roni Size (born Ryan Williams), came to national prominence in 1997 as the founder and leader of Reprazent, a drum and bass collective. That year they won the Mercury Prize for their album, New Forms.
Size grew up in the Bristol suburb of St. Andrews and cites reggae as one of his early influences. Size was expelled from school at the age of 16 and started attending house parties run by Bristol mavericks the Wild Bunch (later Massive Attack). He learned the basics about music production down at his local youth club before setting up his own home studio.
Size was keen to describe the mélange of influences as intuitive: "If Krust walks into the studio and his head is nodding, that's enough. I know I've got a result there. He doesn't need to touch a button or tell us what he thinks, 'cos we already know what he's thinking."
Much of the acclaim centred around Size's melding of the new with the old - the propulsive jungle beats accompanied by live drums and double bass. The band - Size (compositions/programming), DJ Krust, Onallee (vocals), Dynamite MC and rapper Bahamadia (a former protégé of Gang Starr) - came together on Bristol's highly fertile and disparate club scene. As a result, Reprazent's sleek, highly musical take on drum 'n' bass is equally informed by hip-hop, funk, soul and house.
In consolidation of their mainstream breakthrough (the most significant for jungle (music) since Goldie's debut), Reprazent set out to become the summer sound of 1997 with a series of festival appearances (including Tribal Gathering).
Size subsequently teamed up with DJ Die and Leonie Laws in Breakbeat Era, before returning to Reprazent to record the second album, October 2000's uncompromising In The Mode, which included guest vocals from Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine and Method Man of Wu-Tang Clan.