Emma Smith: Live at Watford Palace Theatre

The 2026 Watford Jazz Junction Gala Night featured vocalist Emma Smith with her all-star band: headlined ‘Doing It My Way’. And she did.

Performances of tunes taken largely from the Great American Songbook can sometimes be a little uninspired, but that was definitely not the case with Emma Smith and her amazing band at Watford Palace Theatre. It was a brilliant way to begin the Watford Jazz Junction weekend of music 2026.

Parmiter’s School Big Band

Opening the night was the Parmiter’s School Big Band conducted by Stuart Bates on tunes including some real favourites like Route 66, Mack the Knife and A Night in Tunisia. Clearly, the music department at Parmiter’s (a mixed state school in Watford) is in safe hands as there were some promising young musicians. The talented sax section performed well throughout, but particularly on Saxes With Attitude by Michael Sweeney.

The show’s hosts were Orphy Robinson (who featured on Harmonious World in November 2025) and Jazz FM’s Ruth Fisher, who have both been active in bringing Watford Jazz Junction to life for the last five years.

Ruth mentioned Emma Smith’s strong links to Watford Jazz Junction since it began. A local girl, Emma nevertheless has an international reputation and the band she brought to the Gala Night was equally brilliant. The rhythm section brought together Rob Barron (piano), Tom Farmer (bass) and Luke Tomlinson (drums): each of them acted as a brilliant support but featured through the show in their own impeccable solos.

And what a horn section! Four players who hold their own regularly in a variety of ensembles in the UK and around the world. Sax player Alex Garnett (on the tenor sax previously played by Ronnie Scott) also sang the female part in Moody’s Mood for Love, released recently by Emma.

Next to Alex were Daniel Higham (trombone), Tom Walsh (trumpet) and Graeme Blevins (clarinet and alto sax). Together, they made their ensemble sound like that of a big band, while each performing extraordinary improvised solos on everything from the gorgeous I've Got You Under My Skin and The Lady is a Tramp to - of course - a sumptuous new arrangement of My Way.

Emma’s show was a delight - she really does manage to put her own spin on songs that we might think we know. She’s not afraid to play around with rhythms, melodies and lyrics, while still being true to some real classics. She has an impressive musical heritage that she’s proud of, but her present and future are also musically assured.

Check out all of Emma Smith’s music on Bandcamp