It’s like that line in the film When Harry Met Sally: the famous, titillating scene in the deli where the woman sitting nearby comments that she’d have some of what she’s having — meaning what Sally is having — after Sally’s unforgettable “performance” at the table. Similarly, I would like to have some of what Jamie Cullum has.

There is a zest, and some kind of creative specialness going on. It’s an artistic fuel that drives him. It has all the trappings of a need to dive deep — and an appreciative need it is, too — and to keep learning, always wanting to know the stuff of the stuff.

It’s instantly reflected in his music, original or covered tunes. He excites and engages you immediately. It is like that unavoidable impulse that sends your ears scampering for the source when someone who just digs a thing so much says to you, “Hey, you’ve gotta hear this!” Every project he commits to plumbs as deep as the soul and carries with it the energies that generously share. It’s an artistry made up of artistic volatility. It’s all in the beauty of the zest and the artistic fuel that drives him.