Conversations in Jazz - May edition

Join us for a very special edition of Ilario Ferrari's 'Conversations in Jazz' providing a bumper afternoon of music and chat from a selection of Watford-based jazz artists with some very special guests.

The afternoon is hosted by Jazz FM presenter Ruth Fisher & Orphy Robinson MBE at St John’s Church, presenting one-hour shows from:

• David Gordon (piano) and Chris Garrick (violin) presented in association with 'Oxhey Sounds'

• Ilario Ferrari (piano/guitar/vocals) and Mari Songs (vocals)

• Shri Sriram with his latest acclaimed solo project (electric-bass)

There will also be an opportunity to hear the emerging talent of local-pianist Micol Fusar and to hear a blended choir of children who have taken part in the Watford Jazz Junction’s Jazz Train workshops across the last 18-months (including from Bushey Manor, Greenfields, Woodhall and St John’s primary schools). We can't wait!

Running order:

2pm: Jazz Train choir followed by Micol Fusar

3pm: David Gordon and Chris Garrick

4pm: Ilario Ferrari and Mari Songs

5pm: Shri Sriram presents 'Singing Bass'

Refreshments will be available across the afternoon including hot drinks, alcohol and snacks.

General admission tickets are available at £5/show or at £15 for the entire day (come & go as you wish). All under-16s and students attend for free although please reserve a ticket.

About our artists:

David Gordon and Chris Garrick

Renowned for the quick-fire energy and almost telepathic connection these two long-term friends and colleagues, Christian and David were described in The Guardian as “Brilliant: musical intelligence, humour, sharpness, swing, superb improvisational skills – they have it all.” Their programme will mix originals with standards, tunes from the jazz and Latin songbooks and more, all underpinned by a spirit of joyous improvisation, classy elegance and enormous fun.

Ilario Ferrari and Mari Songs

Ilario is well-known to Watford Jazz Junction audiences, as well as leading his fantastically well-received live-performance sessions 'Conversations in Jazz'. In 2025, whilst attending the Notting Hill Jazz Festival he caught an acoustic set from Mari Songs. She’s a singer, guitarist, and songwriter with a soulful voice that Ilario describe as "sitting somewhere between Beyoncé, Etta James, and Billie Holiday. Her connection with the audience is fantastic, and her song-writing is both honest and interesting." This will be an enticing first opportunity for a Watford audience to hear Ilario and Mari performing together.

Shri Sriram presents 'Singing Bass'

Shri burst onto the global scene in the last 1990s with drum’n’bass duo Badmarsh & Shri, further playing in the UK alongside Nitin Sawhney & Talvin Singh. He has been involved in a number of jazz projects since, including two hugely well-received big bands 'Just A Vibration' (2015) and 'Dhamaal' (2025). His 2020 album, 'The Letter', featured three Norwegian greats: Bugge Wesseltoft, Tore Brunberg and Arild Andersen. And, "it’s that Scandinavian spaciousness that pervades 'Singing Bass' as Shri focuses on the starkly beautiful tone of his self-made fretless bass – letting each note sing, with creatively applied reverbs and subtly overdubbed soundscapes." Jazz Wise