The Juan-les-Pins Jazz festival is the most famous in Europe. For 49 years now, some of the greatest stars have been coming here and playing fantastic quality music.

Is it the beautiful setting? The stage is right by the seafront, and the audience watches as the sun sets over the majestic bay looking over towards Cannes. In the background, the headlands of the Esterel glimmer in the fading summer evening.

Is it the quality entertainment? An incredible roll call of great names: Al Jarreau, B. B. King, Chick Corea, Clark Terry, Dave Brubeck, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Eddy Louiss, Elvin Jones, Fats Waller, George Benson, Hank Jones, Jack DeJohnette, Joshua Redman, Little Richard, Milt Jackson, Oscar Peterson, Pat Metheny, Ravi Coltrane, Ray Charles, Richard Galliano, Roy Haynes, Shirley Horn, Sonny Rollins, Stéphane Grappelli and Wynton Marsalis.

Maybe it is the variety if the music, or the way each evening has a theme? Whatever it is, the magic of Jazz à Juan brings back great musicians and enthusiastic knowledgeable crowds year after year! FR2DAY were there most evenings and we LOVED it!

On Friday we were treated to ninety minutes of a very light-hearted Jamie Cullum and even the very strong onshore breeze could not stop the fun.

Cullum arrives on stage looking like a schoolboy just back from the tuck shop. His hair is tousled, his tie is loose, and his jacket completes the picture.

His set starts with a laid back version of Rhianna's "Please Don't Stop the Music", and the way he plays the piano keyboard with his backside just underlines the irreverent atmosphere. For Cullum, classic jazz standards are for having fun. He stands on the piano, he climbs under it and drums at the bottom of it, he opens the lid and hits the strings.

But when Cullum plays "Just One of Those Things", he shows his fine sensitivity to the original, as well as his great skills as a true jazz man, as he builds a structure for solos, including a fine one from sax player Tom Richards.

He works his audience with ease, and speaks good French. He's been working on a new album, and plays "I'm all Over it now" as a preview. He laughingly tells us this is his attempt to sound like Elton John, although really it would not be out of place as a '60's classic pop single.

He'll be 30 next month, and so he claims this is the end of the road for "Twentysomething". Let's hope not, the world's music festivals and concerts would miss it.

The theme song from Gran Torino is the excuse for a great impersonation of Clint Eastwood. And then Cullum brings his entire band into the middle of the audience to play more jazz. The Juan crowd went wild.

He rounds off his set with "I'm All at Sea", and then the Hendrix classic "Wind Cries Mary" gets the Cullum treatment. That means a great jazz version and new chorus where the Wind Cries Jamie. His final encore is a touching solo version of "I've Got You under My Skin".

Jamie Cullum is a true original. He takes classic jazz, a few rock standards, and some own compositions, and packages the whole as a rampaging explosion of energy across the stage. Tonight he was having a great time, and he totally had the audience on his side.