Birmingham Jazz Presents: Liam Noble/Geoff Simkins Duo

An unmissable night from the master jazz pianist and his saxophonist partner taking their name, and not much else, from a late Victorian circus act involving the catching of turnips on a fork wedged between his front facing incisors, Noble and Simkins wind and swoop their way around melodies from classic standards to 80’s pop. There’s a sense of danger and daring throughout, capturing, they’d like to think, some of the sheer terror and beauty of root vegetables in flight. Standards like “Stella By Starlight” and “When You’re Smiling” contrast with Duran Duran’s melodramatic “Save A Prayer” and the traditional folk song “Black Waterside”, provoking interaction both rumbustious and delicate, and perhaps a rethinking of what it means to be staring a speeding turnip in the face.