JAZZ musician Jamie Cullum will play York Barbican on March 11 on his 12-date British and Irish tour next spring.

Cullum, 39, will be promoting his latest album, Taller, set for release on June 7 on Island Records.

"It’s going to be so fun playing this new music out on tour with my incredible band," he said. "We’ll be drawing on these new songs and reinventing plenty of old ones too. The Taller 2020 tour is going to be a memorable one."

Tickets will go on sale on June 7 on 0203 356 5441, at yorkbarbican.co.uk or in person from the Barbican box office.

On Taller, Cullum delves into "more personal subject matter with a fresh sense of authenticity, each song reflecting a desire to grow and learn and explore life for the beautiful muddle it is".

The title track responds to jibes about Cullum's diminutive height [5ft 4in]. "Historically there have been jokes about my physical stature and being married to a taller woman [5ft 11in model and cookery writer Sophie Dahl], so I wanted to own it," said the Essex pianist, singer, songwriter and broadcaster.

"Using this as a jumping-off point, it became a song about the need to grow within your relationship and meet each other eye to eye, allowing room for both darkness and light."

Summing up Taller ahead of turning 40 on August 20, Cullum said: "This album is really a love letter to my wife. It’s an album of my songs that takes stock of where I am right now. They were my working notes for life. My ‘Fortysomething' if you will.

"I wanted to put aside whether it was a jazz record, whether it was ticking this or that box. The songs would be king and they would be honest. I feel more proud of this than anything I’ve done."

Charles Hutchinson