Liam Noble is such a terrific pianist that he can do completely unpianistic things, like imitating the rhythms and sound effects that are more appropriate to a banjo, and still keep you absolutely enthralled. Improvisation certainly takes some surprising forms in this, his first solo album in more than 20 years. The most delightful is the way he wanders wilfully off the track of a well-known standard, such as Round Midnight, just far enough to make it sound both comfortably familiar and disturbingly strange. And his exploration of Kenny Wheeler’s tune Sophie is simply mind-boggling.
