Ref. 28404-48JAZZ sensation Jamie Cullum will slog it out with some of the biggest names in music at next month's Brit Awards.

The 24-year-old Swindon jazz pianist and singer has been nominated in the British Breakthrough Artist category at the British music industry's annual celebrations, which will be staged at Earl's Court, London, on February 17.

The news is yet more confirmation that the gravel-voiced prodigy from Hullavington has hit the big time.

His current album, Twentysome-thing, has reached platinum and is the fastest selling British jazz album of all time.

Now he will rub shoulders with some of the biggest names in music including Rachel Stevens, Dido, Kylie Minogue and Jamelia at the televised event. His modern twists on old classics such as I Get A Kick Out Of You, Singin' In The Rain, Radiohead's High And Dry and Jimi Hendrix's Wind Cries Mary, coupled with his own songs, including These Are the Days, have finally brought jazz into the mainstream.

From playing at pubs in Wootton Bassett and at the Swindon Jazz Festival, he now enjoys sell-out gigs at the Royal Festival Hall in London and Room 5 in Los Angeles.

And tickets for dates on his British Isles tour, which begins in Dublin on February 19, are nearly sold out.

Jamie was in Los Angeles, where he is busy promoting Twentysome-thing before flying out to Japan, when the Brit Award nominations were announced yesterday.

February is shaping up to be a good month for the Cullums. Jamie and his brother Ben have written the music for the stage production of When Harry Met Sally, which stars Alyson Hannigan Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Luke Perry from Beverly Hills 90210, and opens at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, on February 20.

His dad John said: "Jamie is a jazz pianist and singer, something that has not had widespread appeal before, but his album and the people who turn up to see him play are recognition enough that he is not being pigeonholed.

"I have been to shows where people in the audience have been aged between 14 and 84 it's great.

"The news that Jamie has been nominated for the Brits is yet more icing on the cake and we're extremely proud of Jamie. It's surreal sometimes, especially when I phone to book a restaurant and reserve a table in the name of Cullum and the voice on the other end says 'oh, just like the jazz singer' and then we go and have dinner and Jamie's CD is playing in the background."

Jamie has remained loyal to his roots and despite signing a £1m deal with Universal Records, regularly returns to Swindon to fulfil commitments like playing at friends' birthdays and weddings.

Just before Christmas Jamie played at The Apartment in Havelock Square. Tickets cost £5, sold out in 15 minutes and all proceeds were donated to Children In Need.

Giles Sheldrick