From the outset, Jamie Cullum made a statement that while schooled in jazz, he was thinking beyond its traditional boundaries. So among the typical mix of standards on his proper 2002 debut, the then-22-year-old included a contemporary cover, Radiohead’s “High And Dry.”

Since then, in addition to tunes from the likes of Gershwin and Cole Porter, Cullum has invited Jeff Buckley, The White Stripes, Kanye West, and Pharrell to his piano party. And though he’s proven himself quite adept at giving others’ songs a go, Cullum has increasingly leaned on his own originals as well.

His current album, The Pursuit, opens with a Cole Porter favorite and features a Broadway detour via Stephen Sondheim. But alongside those and other similarly contemplative moments, Cullum cranks up the pop, venturing into Ben Folds territory with tunes like “I’m All Over It” (garnering some radio airplay) and “Mixtape.” But the point of today’s post is Cullum’s inspired cover of Rihanna’s 2008 #3 hit, “Don’t Stop The Music.”

Stripped of its insistent house-music beat and the “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” sample, I wouldn’t have expected this cover to come together. But Cullum’s arrangement makes the song even more seductive, creating a jazzy come-on that crescendos with the titular entreaty of the chorus. He totally Works. It. Out.

Cullum’s video for “Don’t Stop The Music” features what may very well be the best use of an exploding piano since Faith No More’s “Epic.”

Purchase Jamie Cullum – “Don’t Stop The Music” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.