Camille Thurman + Darrell Green Quartet

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

TIME: 6:15-7:15PM

VENUE: WAGNER STAGE. MIDWAY PLAISANCE AT South WOODLAWN AVE.

CAMILLE THURMAN

As an accomplished composer, saxophonist, vocalist, and interpreter of the jazz tradition, Camille Thurman is known for her distinct musical approach to classic and original repertoires that highlight her musical chops, both as a powerhouse singer and an instrumentalist.

Thurman has been honored with a SOUTH Arts Jazz Road Creative Artistic Residency, a DownBeat Critics Poll Nomination for Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist, two ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Awards, a Fulbright Scholars Cultural Ambassador Grant, and a Chamber Music of America Performance Plus Grant (Sponsored by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation), among others.

A New York City native, Thurman was the first woman in 30 years to tour full-time and internationally with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as a saxophonist/woodwindist (2018-2020). A respected bandleader, she has headlined notable concert venues and jazz festivals around the world, including Kennedy Center and Alice Tully Hall. She has four full-length recordings as a leader to her credit. Her most recent project, Fortitude, is a collaboration with master drummer Darrell Green and his quartet.

Under her Fulbright Scholarship, Thurman was chosen by the U.S. State Department to tour and perform in Paraguay and Nicaragua as a bandleader. In addition, she was recently selected by American Music Abroad and the U.S. State Department to tour and perform in Cameroon, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, and Mauritania as a U.S. Cultural Ambassador. In May of 2020, Thurman created The Haven Hang: Young Lioness Musician Q&A and Virtual Mentorship Series, which provides a virtual mentorship series for young women musicians.

Darrell Green

Innovative master drummer Darrell Green is one of the most sought-after drummers on today’s jazz scene. A prolific sideman, bandleader, educator, clinician, composer, and producer, Green has developed a style rooted in modern post-bop but retaining elements of his gospel and classical lineage. He is known for his effortless technique and for captivating rhythms that bring the music to life, taking audiences on a spiritual journey. Though jazz is his primary focus, Green is conversant in multiple genres, from straight-ahead jazz to Latin and West African music.

Green has toured and recorded with leading jazz artists including Cassandra Wilson, Pharoah Sanders, Benny Golson, Buster Williams, Mary Stallings, Houston Person, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Antoine Roney, Charles Tolliver, Marlena Shaw, Sherman Irby, Steve Turre, Wallace Roney, Stefon Harris, Myron Waldon/Darren Barrett Quartet, Red Holloway, Faye Carol, Amina Figarova, The Black Arts Collective, and Jeremy Pelt.

He has taken the stage in notable concert halls and at music festivals around the world, including at Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Blue Note Jazz Club, Birdland, The Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, and the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Green leads both a trio and quintet, and also co-leads a collaborative project with vocalist and saxophonist Camille Thurman that was selected to join the American Music Abroad Cultural Ambassador Program and tour several countries in Africa.

The product of a community of mentors including Billy Higgins, Bill Stewart, Faye Carol, and Wallace and Antoine Roney, Green has a strong belief in nurturing the next generation of musicians through master classes, clinics, workshops, and educational residencies around the world. He has served as drum instructor at UC Berkeley’s Young Musician’s Program and at jazz camps including Jazz Camp West, Stanford Jazz Camp, and Lafayette Jazz Camp. His most recent residencies include Montana State University, Hart School of Music, Queens College, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Northeastern University.

The musicians:

Camille Thurman - vocals / saxophone

Darrell Green - drums

Tom DiCarlo - bass

Bruce Edwards - guitar

Duane Eubanks - trumpet