Camille Thurman

Camille Thurman blowing tenor with the Jazz at Lincoln Center big band behind her. Fronting the quartet co-led by drummer Darrell Green. Switching from saxophone to flute, then to singing a standard like “Nobody Knows,” revealing her various talents, often on the same melody. These snapshots from a career in its first flowering were common enough up to a year ago; now they’ve been replaced by a few home activities that Thurman considers the hidden benefits of a year in lockdown.

“I find myself listening to music now differently from before,” she says. “In the beginning I was trying to learn the key solos and repertoire. But now I find myself taking the time to process and hear other things I missed in my youth: how musicians taper the notes, their phrasing, the nuances of harmony, the arrangement, the sound, the colors, the musicians’ interactions.”

There’s more: As a recently hired educator working with the jazz studies department at the University of Northern Colorado, Thurman’s finding more time to interact with her students. “It’s been a joy actually because the majority of the time, I’m a clinician. I’d go in and work with the students—like an intensive boot camp for one day or a week—and then wish them the best: ‘Okay, good luck going into the new world, reach out to me if you need any help!’ But now I have the opportunity to work with some students for a consistent period of time, which has been a blessing to watch their growth.”

Thurman’s own growth can be measured across four well-received albums in the past seven years, with plans for two more, including “a tribute project to the late great Horace Silver that I’ve been working on along with Darrell Green, and it features Wallace Roney and Regina [1970], [1971], and [1972]—those records that we don’t really hear too often. But it’s music that’s so needed now and is perfect for today’s time. We’re hoping to get the music out to you soon.”