Cullum's jazz grabs fans of all ages

His first Universal Classics & Jazz album, 2004's "Twentysomething," sold more than 2 million copies worldwide and received a Grammy nod for best jazz vocal album.

But Cullum is more rocker than stereotypical lounge crooner.

The baby-faced musician stands, jumps, stomps, pounds and plucks his way through a concert in rock 'n' roll fashion, sometimes taking up guitar and drums in addition to his piano. While there are bound to be a few standards in there, he's just as likely to do sugar-coated pop, ruckus rock or a medley of funky hip-hop songs he heard that day on the radio.

"The live show is really quite open," he said in a recent phone interview the morning after a Houston show where he put his own twist on Kanye West and Gnarls Barkley.

"There's no particular set list or anything so it's very much something that kind of happens and is certainly of the moment. We walk on stage not knowing that we're going to play or where we're going. That leaves it incredibly open."

The wild genre-blending live show is an extension of Cullum's albums. His follow-up, 2005's "Chasing Tales," includes self-penned songs, standards such as "I Only Have Eyes For You," a cover of "Catch the Sun" by Britpop band the Doves and a collaboration with hip-hop DJ and producer Dan "The Automator" Nakamura (of Gorillaz fame) on "Get Your Way."

His combination of songs and styles appeals to people across all demographics. "Chasing Tales" hit No. 1 on the Contemporary Jazz chart but it also broke the Top 50 on the Billboard 200, and the video for the single "Get Your Way" was in heavy rotation on VH1. Much has been said of his ability to bring pop fans to jazz as well as to help jazz lovers appreciate pop, and the evidence can be found by scanning the audience at one of his shows.

"It's an incredible mixture," Cullum said in his surprisingly thick British accent that's absent when he sings. "Last night in Houston, the front row was made up of male, female, young, old, white and black. It was an extremely varied front row."

Cullum can attract so many different types of music lovers because the self-proclaimed "music nerd" truly enjoys many types of music. He loved pop and rock — Kurt Cobain and the Red Hot Chili Peppers — well before he fell for traditional songs and jazz, but he appreciates the old and new songs in the same way.

"I liked the sound of some of these songs," he said of the standards. "It was that simple. It was way before I knew who Frank Sinatra was or these famous standards singers. I just liked the songs the same way I liked listening to Beck or someone like that."

Cullum's dream collaborations show just how diverse his musical tastes run. He'd like to work with hip-hop producer Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas, "because I think he has great producing talent," and the late jazz legend Miles Davis "because I don't think there has been anyone else in musical history who has been so ruthlessly following their own path fearlessly like that."

Cullum may very well forge his own path into music history for his ability to effortlessly combine songs from seemingly dissimilar musical eras and genres in a way that makes them flow smoothly one into the next. While it appears to be a great feat, the secret is easy, according to Cullum.

"You treat everything with the same amount of respect and passion," he said. "Don't separate out in your mind 'Now I'm going to do my jazz bit and now I'm going to do my hip-hop thing.' You just gotta play every song with exactly the same level of passion and then there's no trouble fitting it in 'cause the thing that makes it all is yourself — the artist at the center of it all."

Quick take

Jamie Cullum in concert

With Raul Midón

When: 8 p.m. Friday  

Where: Rialto Theatre

Tickets: $17 through luckymanconcerts.ticketforce. com or the Rialto Box Office, 740-1000. Tickets bought at Club Congress, where the concert was originally scheduled, will be honored at the Rialto.