JOE Stilgoe brings his smash hit show, Songs On Film to the Turner Sims, Southampton tonight.

Songs On Film pays tribute to iconic soundtracks and self-confessed film buff Joe adds his own innovative and stylish orchestrations to the most memorable moments in cinematic history.

A collision of music, improvisation and comedy, Songs On Film takes you from Hollywood’s golden age to the classic films of the 80s, through to the contemporary work of Tarantino, the Coen Brothers and Pixar, in a show of virtuosic musicianship, breath-taking theatricality and wit.

Joe, who is the son of lyricist and entertainer Sir Richard Stilgoe, and opera singer Annabel Hunt, studied Music at the University of Southampton, achieving a First Class degree.

Looking back Joe thinks a love of film probably entered his life before music made its mark. The crucial moment came when he was five and he was taken to see The Jungle Book at the local cinema. Watching Mowgli, King Louis and the rest of the Disney characters cavorting across the screen left an indelible mark on the little boy.

That memory provides some of the inspiration for Songs on Film. Blending music from the likes of Toy Story 2 and Monsters Inc as well as classics from the golden age, the evening is much more than a run-through of silver screen greatest hits. Stilgoe is just as interested in unearthing numbers that have a quirky quality of their own. Chuck Berry's “You Never Can Tell”, for instance, conjures memories of the famous John Travolta-Uma Thurman dance sequence in “Pulp Fiction”.

Stilgoe says he loves that kind of unexpected juxtaposition of mood and melody: “It's easy to do Singin' in the Rain, An American in Paris or Top Hat, but that's not as memorable as really well chosen moments in music that spring out at you. Whatever your views on Tarantino's films, he has a way of choosing music that's really subversive.”