PIANO MAN AN ELECTRIFYING JAMIE CULLUM TAKES JAZZ TO NEW PLACES.

Byline: FRED SHUSTER

>MUSIC WRITER

Lock up your piano -- Jamie Cullum's coming to town.

The dynamic British singer, songwriter and keyboardist has been known to pound his pianos well into submission. He counts at least five Steinways broken on tour and during TV performances.

Dubbed by one critic "Sinatra with sneakers," the singer is also breaking records.

The genre-bending, Grammy Award-nominated Cullum mixes originals, jazz standards and savvy covers of unexpected rock and pop classics for packed venues around the world. An energetic, tireless performer, Cullum has developed a reputation as one of the most exciting young entertainers in the field.

"People ask why I play jazz," says Cullum, who turns 28 next month. "It's because you can take it so many places. You can embrace dance music, rock, pop, classical, funk, everything. Jazz is the greatest platform to do whatever you want."

Cullum's memorable set during the 2006 Playboy Jazz Festival, in which he vaulted into the air, banged his fists on the keyboards and completely riveted the hard-partying crowd, was so impressive he's been invited back to the Hollywood Bowl this weekend for two concerts accompanied by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Fellow Britisher Bramwell Tovey, the charismatic music director of the Vancouver Symphony, will conduct the "Cool Britannia!" events, which mark Cullum's orchestral debut.

"When he played Playboy, he came on in the middle of the day and absolutely killed," recalls Arvind Manocha, vice president and general manager of the Hollywood Bowl. "You only occasionally see a performer who has the audience in the palm of his hand when 10 minutes earlier they didn't even know his name.

"When I saw that, I realized this is somebody who can command a stage. He's got a lot of energy, musicality and is one of the many interesting things coming out of England at the moment."

Cullum's concert Saturday at the Bowl dovetails nicely with the L.A. debut of another interesting phenomenon from across the pond: soccer superstar David Beckham's scheduled first game for the Los Angeles Galaxy, against familiar opponent Chelsea FC of the English Premier League, in Carson.

Cullum, who is an avid fan of his hometown team -- Swindon Town -- can often be seen cheering the minor league team on from the stands at the County Ground when visiting his parents' home in nearby Bath. The musician says he'll be supporting Beckham's attempt to give soccer a higher profile in the U.S.

"He's a great footballer (soccer player) and I think that gets overlooked a lot of the time because of the celebrity factor," Cullum said the other day from a tour stop in the Netherlands. "He's not that well-known in the States, and I hope he can make more people aware of the game. He can't help but do that."

Born in Essex to a Myanmese mother and English father and raised in Wiltshire, the self-taught Cullum became obsessed with music from an early age: rock, hip-hop, acid jazz, blues. Discovering jazz as a teen, via artists like Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis, he also embraced the groundbreaking Steely Dan albums purchased by his brother Ben (who plays bass on Cullum's 2005 "Catching Tales" album). While studying English at college, he began working as a singer-pianist anywhere he could get a gig: cruise ships, pubs, even wedding receptions.

"That time was pivotal to me," he said. "It was a time when I was learning and changing my ideas about music each day. I did so much listening to music, too. I still do that and I think I'm evolving as a musician and performer just as much now as I was then."

During those early years, Cullum crafted the explosive stage persona (captured on the 2004 DVD "Live at Blenheim Palace") that would win him accolades in The New York Times and Variety in the following years.

When Universal Classics & Jazz snatched up the rising talent in spring 2003 and sent him into the studio to make "Twentysomething," he was ready for the work that lay ahead. The disc was a smash that sold more than 2 million copies, garnered a Grammy nomination and sparked a series of world tours.

"I love playing," Cullum said. "I'm not going to sit here and complain about being on the road. It's fantastic to be able to do what I do and have people come out to see me. I completely love this life. Here I am in Holland about to play for a huge crowd."

His stage show is unpredictable. One of the many things he will bring to the Bowl this weekend is a "stompbox" (not to be confused with an effects pedal for guitars) made from a small wooden block used to amplify a musician's tapping foot.

And not only does he play songs from his albums in concert, he's been known to cover tunes by the White Stripes, Kanye West, Massive Attack, Joy Division and even the Pussycat Dolls (he described his forthcoming album as sounding like "Blue Note meets Arcade Fire").

Rarely working from a set list, Cullum's two-hour-plus gigs are largely improvised.

"That's the real meaning of jazz -- improvisation," Cullum said. "But that doesn't mean you have to sit still, bent over the piano. The reason you think of jazz as being this serious music that doesn't use a lot of physical movement is the concentration of people like McCoy Tyner and Thelonious Monk demands it.

"I am about making jazz-based pop music and part of that means getting people to enjoy themselves. And whatever that takes, I'm up for it."

Fred Shuster, [phone], fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com

in concert>

COOL BRITANNIA! WITH JAMIE CULLUM

>Where: Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood.

>When: 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

>Cost: $7 to $147.

>Information: [phone];

www.ticketmaster.com.

FROM THE U.K. TO THE U.S.A.

Jamie Cullum is not alone among worthwhile U.K. music acts arriving in the next few months. Here are 11 -- "it goes to 11," as Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel might say -- other good reasons to hoist the Union Jack. Tickets to all events are available at Ticketmaster locations or [phone]; www.ticketmaster.com.

>Dolores O'Riordan, the singer from Ireland's Cranberries, comes to the House of Blues Sunset Strip tonight.

>Snow Patrol, an especially tuneful Scottish alt-rock band, is at the Greek Theatre on Sunday and Monday.

>The Slits bring Ladbroke Grove's dub-reggae groove to the El Rey Theatre on Aug. 3.

>The Pretenders, considered a Brit band even though singer Chrissie Hynde is originally from Ohio, appear at the Santa Barbara Bowl on Aug. 10.

>Squeeze, whose "Tempted" and other new-wave gems still hold up, appears at the Greek Theatre on Aug. 13.

>Bert Jansch, the folkie and guitar virtuoso who inspired Led Zeppelin's acoustic musings, comes to the Troubadour on Aug. 24.

>Joss Stone, who wowed the crowd at the recent Princess Diana concert at London, is at the Greek Theatre on Aug. 27.

>Amy Winehouse is still refusing to go to rehab, but she will be at the Wiltern on Sept. 18 and 19.

>Editors, the moody indie rock outfit from gritty Birmingham, make a scene at the Wiltern on Sept. 24.

>Genesis, the '60s prog-rock band now reunited with Phil Collins at the helm, is at the Hollywood Bowl on Oct. 12 and 13.

>The Pogues, whose Guinness-fueled Irish folk-rock can devastate a crowd, comes to the Wiltern on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.

>F.S.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) IN THE KEY OF COOL

BRIT POP STAR JAMIE CULLUM PLAYS THE BOWL

(2 -- color) no caption (Jamie Cullum)

(3 -- color) Chrissie Hynde, the Pretenders

(4 -- color) Amy Winehouse

(5 -- color) Phil Collins, Genesis

PHOTOS BY GETTY IMAGES

Box:

FROM THE U.K. TO THE U.S.A. (see text)