IT IS tempting to see young jazz pianist Jamie Cullum as the jazz answer to Robbie Williams; but whoever asked that question?

There is a lot of this astonishing new musician to go around. He is part showman, with his crowd-pleasing Robbie moments; part Elton John; part Jools Holland, perhaps. But mostly he is simply himself.

While on his debut CD, Twentysomething, Cullum can seem an odd mix of good originals, such as the title track, great covers, such as a funked-up I Could Have Danced All Night, and dubious covers, such as a frankly embarrassing take on Hendrix's Wind Cries Mary, live on stage, everything comes together beautifully.

He even, somewhere towards the end of a blistering two-hour set to a packed and rapturous house, does an about-turn on the Hendrix. The version he gave last night worked wonderfully, thanks to having a dangerous edge. It started loud, grew louder still and eventually skidded out of control into a cacophonous pile up of noise.

The Robbie moment came with a lovely take on the Peter Pan song, I Won't Grow Up, performed amid the audience, with his three horn players following.

Twentysomething was despatched early on, a little before Jamie and his six-piece band had truly warmed up, but they were really cooking by the time they got to I Could Have Danced All Night.

With bags of charm, lots of percussive business on, around and underneath the piano, Jamie Cullum gave a performance to blast away the doubters. Seen live, he truly makes sense and really is worth all the fuss and hype.

Updated: 10:56 Saturday, February 28, 2004