As my companion and me scaled the dizzying gradient of the Upper Circle at the Olympia in May to see Jamie Cullum, Roland compared it to climbing one of the hills of his many outdoor expeditions, only in the dark!

More indoor myself, but thankfully just about fit enough to make it to our seats before Jamie took to the stage and made the sun come out with his vibe and performance.

Truly, Jamie is the leader of this collective and originator of his sound, a mix of Brit Pop and Jazz.

It was hard to believe that the paid-up members of the band bought into it as Jamie fizzed with his own incredible energy. Turns out, they were all tired from a long journey by coach, but Jamie has his own generator!

Piano man, composer and singer, he must have climbed onto and jumped off the piano at least three times during the gig, reminding of the freeze frame, him caught in mid-air, on the cover of his 2004 debut album ‘Twenty Something’.

At 5feet 2inches, maybe he is five stone as he reassured us! He must be thirty-something by now, married to 5foot 9inch model Sophie Dahl, and scaling the dizzying heights of jazz and his own musicality, with his new album called ‘The Pursuit’ reflecting this positive statement of intent.

‘What a difference a day made’; ‘I could have danced all night’; ‘Wind cries Mary’ are just some of the songs that he has made his own, in no particular order. I was waiting for ‘Lover, You Should Have Come Over’ and ‘Blame It On My Youth’, or ‘Oh God’ and ‘My Yard’, from ‘Catching Tales’, his second album.

But there were too many to choose from, including the new material. I thought I heard a hot contender for a 2010 World Cup anthem in there, ever hopeful that England, our closest neighbours, are going to do it in South Africa this June.

The play list was being decided instinctively by Jamie from a large repertoire where he only has to settle at the piano and play a few chords to segue effortlessly into the next track. We were treated to ‘Twenty Something’ and ‘Fronting’, which he conjured single-headedly by creating loops on another keyboard.

Some of the singing is getting very accomplished with a lot of variety and scatting. The band know exactly what they’re at while Jamie is running around the stage appealing to the crowd.

There was a moment when you realised that you were being directly affected by his sheer exuberance. I was trying to take it easy, while Roland appeared to be wired to jump leads!

Towards the end, all five band members came down the centre aisle of the theatre, playing a version of ‘Cry Me a River’ with a heavy back beat.
The boys blew some serious horn solos, while Jamie was standing on one of the red velvet chairs singing up to the circle.

I’d swear he caught my eye! Creating music on the spot like this amidst the crowd of excited fans, you could literally sense a whole new cohort of jazz fans being created.