A great fall bucket list includes a trip to the pumpkin patch, seasonal cooking, cozying up for your favorite movies and listening to amazing jazz music! You’re in luck this October because Walton Arts Center is hosting the talented Camille Thurman with the Darrell Green Quartet in the Starrlight Jazz Club on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 pm.
As an accomplished composer, esteemed saxophonist, vocalist and unique interpreter of the jazz tradition, Thurman is quickly becoming one of the leading standard bearers of the art form. Fluid and powerful on the tenor saxophone, her rich sound has been compared to Joe Henderson and Dexter Gordon, while her vocal approach—including an impressive scatting ability—has been classified alongside those of Ella Fitzgerald and Betty Carter.
"Camille actually had the audacity (and courage!) to play her tenor sax with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis, stepping into John Coltrane’s shoes to perform his transcendent A Love Supreme,” said Robert Ginsburg, jazz curator at Walton Arts Center and host of KUAF’s Shades of Jazz. “A daunting achievement for any saxophonist. The other side of her talent is as a vocalist. She first caught the jazz world’s attention in 2013 as a finalist in the Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition. She could have become a major force on the strength of either her voice or her tenor saxophone, however both will be on full display.”
““You’re hard-pressed to find rising talents more exciting than Camille Thurman.” ”
A respected bandleader, she has headlined numerous notable concert venues and jazz festivals worldwide, including the Kennedy Center, The Library of Congress and the Rose Theater. Her international recognition is a testament to the universal appeal of her music and the profound impact she has made on the global jazz community.
Thurman was chosen by the U.S. State Department under the Fulbright Scholarship grant to tour and perform in Paraguay and Nicaragua as a bandleader. She was recently selected by American Music Abroad and the U.S. State Department to tour and perform in Africa as a U.S. Cultural Ambassador in Cameroon, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and Mauritania. In May 2020, she founded “The Haven Hang,” which serves as a virtual and in-person mentorship series for young women musicians, with an initiative to mentor, aid and support young women pursuing music careers in the performing arts. Currently, she is an assistant professor of jazz performance at McGill University.
The New York City-native has amassed several distinctive honors for her musicianship: NAACP Image Award Nominee for outstanding jazz album, recipient of the SOUTH Arts Creative Jazz Road artistic residency, Downbeat Magazine’s critics poll nominee for rising star tenor saxophonist and vocalist and rising new artist (2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020), two-time winner of the ASCAP Herb Alpert young jazz composers award, a recipient of the Fulbright Scholars cultural ambassador grant and Chamber Music of America performance plus grant (Sponsored by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation) among others. Thurman also has five full-length recordings as a leader to her credit. Her most recent project, Confluence: Vol 1, is a collaboration with master drummer Darrell Green and his quartet.
Find your new soundtrack to the season with Camille Thurman. All-in ticket prices start at $40.25.
Keep the Seasonal Music Going!
Thurman made history as the first woman in 30 years to tour internationally, record and perform full-time with the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as a saxophonist/woodwind doubler (2018-2020 season). You can see this powerhouse performer in October, then in November experience first-hand the brilliance of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis: Big Band Holiday Tour to get you in the holiday spirit.