A GOLDSMITHS College- trained piano virtuoso with classical, jazz and world music allegiances, Huw Warren's most valuable musical asset might be his short attention span.

A terror of getting bored has seen the Gower-born pianist alight on a fascinating mixed lot of treasures, from working up a soundtrack for the Buster Keaton film, Steamboat Bill Jnr to clocking in with Billy Bragg and Eddi Reader, creating inventive film scores and dealing in obscure Welsh hymns. Now, he pays his dues to one of his favourite musical experimenters, Hermeto Pascoal. Often called the Sorcerer, and known for taking liberties with music-making by playing teapots and children's toys, or by singing underwater, Huw says Hermeto's eccentricity and invention is thrilling to him. "My new album, Hermeto+, is a celebration of the Brazilian musician Hermeto Pascoal, who worked for a time with Miles Davis, and who has been a great influence on me.

"Some of the album is my response to his style as well. "I love the idea, in music, that you can listen to something for five seconds or for five minutes and have no idea where it is going to go next.

"His music is like that. It has that sense of wonder."

Huw's own approach to the piano sees him squeezing every sonic possibility from it, using prepared piano techniques — putting coins, cardboard boxes or percussion instruments inside its belly. And, to him, specialising in an instrument shouldn't mean being aware of its limitations.

"I have a fear of music being boring — of my music being boring. And I love all of the sounds the piano makes, so I use them all."

That unstuffy approach is the foundation of all of his work, he says, and the ghettoisation of musical genres only undermines music. "There is a tendency, yes, for some people who like music, particularly jazz, to be secure in their genres. "But, for me, I love working with June Tabor as much as I love improvised jazz. And to play for a knowledgeable audience is often not as rewarding as playing for a less knowledgeable one, because they can have preconceptions about how something should sound.

"When I started out I played the cello and piano and was in the Youth Orchestra of West Glamorgan. My dad had a friend who played accordion and piano in a pub-style.

"When I was 10, he showed me how to do a pub-style vamp on the piano, and, in many ways, that has more to do with what I am doing today than anything else I have done in my career and education. "That is about making it up, responding to circumstances, improvising, rather than reading classical notes on a page."

Huw is joined for the show, Hermeto, by Iain Ballamy, Dudley Phillips, John Parricelli and Martin France at Taliesin Arts Centre on Saturday. www.myspace.com/ huwwarrenmusic