Jamie Cullum is to launch his very own weekly show on BBC Radio 2. The first broadcast of ‘Jamie Cullum’ will be on Tuesday 6th April 2010 at 19.00 GMT.
‘Jamie Cullum’ is a place where Jamie can share his love and genuine passion for music. It is about all types of jazz and music rooted in jazz. You’ll be hearing from the four corners; from the heritage and the history, to the new and the upcoming future face of jazz.
When speaking about his new venture Cullum said: “It’s an extraordinary privilege to be able to present an hour of jazz and jazz related music at such a civilized hour. We're going to present a show that will excite people’s ears and bring them into a scene they may not know about.”
The show will be produced by Karen Pearson at Folded Wing. The pair have previously worked together on other projects including the BBC Electric Proms. Karen said “I’m excited to be a part of developing a new format for jazz on the radio, from live sessions through to features. It’s an amazing opportunity to embrace such a large audience and a great honour to be working with both Jamie and BBC Radio 2”.
Jamie’s first stint as a radio anchor was at the tender age of 14, when he hosted a Sunday lunchtime show on Radio Cracker in Chippenham, followed later by stint on Swindon FM, hosting a weekly show featuring all styles of jazz. Last year he presented a two hour show every Saturday for 18 months on the GCAP owned digital radio station ‘thejazz’, giving airplay to a wide range of different jazz sounds from around the world. He joined a long line of well known presenters on the station including Margherita Taylor, Jacqui Dankworth and Courtney Pine as listener figures grew to over half a million.
In 2008 when Humphrey Lyttelton retired from broadcasting due to ill health, Jamie stepped in to take the reins of BBC Radio 2’s ‘The Best of Jazz’, a show which Humphrey fronted for 40 years. He cemented his relationship with Radio 2 by hosting the live concert ‘A Christmas Carol’ and by guest presenting a number of documentaries for the network, notably on ‘70 Years of Cool’ the story of Blue Note Records, 50 Years of Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, Herbie Hancock, Jimi Hendrix, and ‘Q on 2’ for which Jamie interviewed the great Quincy Jones. The show, which was broadcast on New Year’s Eve, went on to win a World Medal at the New York Radio Awards.
