We met Jamie Cullum at Jazz à Juan: the British pianist talks about his memories of the Côte d'Azur, his love of music and his upcoming projects.

We took several checks to make sure the sun hadn't been beating down too hard on our heads. But that's true: Jamie Cullum was born on August 20, 1979, in Rochford, Essex. In a month, the Brit will be 46, and he looks 15 or 20 years younger.

Once Friday night's evening at Jazz à Juan was over, the observation was even more striking. This guy has dynamite in his fingers and legs. Sometimes timid during certain evenings, the audience succumbed to his charm, letting themselves be carried away by his good humor and his talent. Anything but a surprise if you've already seen him at work, at the Nice Jazz Festival, of which he was the patron in 2015, in Monte-Carlo, where the late Jean-René Palacio invited him whenever he could. And also, above all, in this Pinède Gould where he was performing for the sixth time in his career.

2006: in the deep end, before the midnight swim

An hour and a half before meeting Juan, where he hadn't set foot since 2017, the pianist and singer took the time to talk with us about his career and his current ambitions, all with disconcerting naturalness. Very quickly, we talked about his first time here, that summer of 2006 when he captivated the crowd without warning, climbing onto his piano like an uncontrollable Zebulon.

"I remember it very well. Firstly, because I couldn't believe the stage was right in front of the beach. And secondly, because I had in my head the list of all the greats who had played there. Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis... I was very excited to see what I could bring to this festival."

To celebrate this dazzling premiere, he and his friends took a dip in the Mediterranean, naked as worms. "How do you know that? (He bursts out laughing) It's a crazy night. We went to the jam session after the concert, then we wanted to go swimming. There you go!"

"If Herbie Hancock tells you that..."

From then on, Jamie Cullum, to whom we owe a cover of Everlasting Love on the soundtrack of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and Gran Torino , a sublime ballad for the Clint Eastwood film of the same name, has continued to move forward, while shaking off the shackles of the temple guardians. Easy? Yes... and no.

"I have a background in jazz, but also in pop and rock. I grew up with all that music and I thought I should be myself. But sometimes, when I found myself on the same bills as Sonny Rollins or Diana Krall, I wondered what I was doing there, I was a little nervous."

The calm, then the feeling of being in the right, will come through his encounters. "Herbie Hancock advised me to bring my own artistic talent, not to imitate that of others. If Herbie Hancock tells you that..."

"Jazz makes you humble"

The singer-songwriter was also encouraged in his journey by American singer José James, who was from the same generation as him. "He grew up listening to both hip-hop and Nirvana. We have a similar language; he's someone with whom I felt a real affinity."

Today, one of a handful of jazz artists known to a wider audience, along with Gregory Porter, Melody Gardot, and Norah Jones, he is married and the father of two daughters (Lyra, 14, and Margot, 12). And his approach to managing his career has evolved.

"I think I have to turn down 80 or 90 percent of the dates I get offered. I don't know if it'll always be like this, but it seems like the right way to live my life."

Before seeing him in action, and therefore having our answer, we wondered if Super Jamie still had the eye of the tiger.

"I haven't lost my enthusiasm for music, that's for sure. It's just that youth brought me a different power. Today, I consider myself a better musician, a better singer. Because I'm still a student, I've worked hard."

As Dianne Reeves, expected on stage just before him, appears in our field of vision, Jamie Cullum clarifies his point. "When you see people like her or Reuben Rogers [the bassist who accompanied the singer in Juan] , it makes you humble. Jazz makes you humble."