This past homecoming weekend saw the return of many Binghamton University alumni to their old stomping grounds, but the arrival of one former student was particularly exciting. On Saturday, Oct. 8, world-acclaimed saxophonist and vocalist Camille Thurman, ‘09, returned to BU to deliver a soulful, gorgeous night of jazz, backed by the Darrell Green Quartet.

As audience members — which consisted of students, faculty and Binghamton locals alike — filed into the Chamber Hall, BU’s Director of Jazz Studies Michael Carbone educated the crowd on Thurman’s exceptional career.

The Darrell Green Quartet, of whom Thurman’s husband Darrell Green is the drummer, began the night, silhouetted by a colorfully lit background. After a few minutes, Thurman walked onto the stage in a glittering silver dress, eliciting applause from the audience as she picked up her saxophone and joined the band. Thurman, both an exceptionally gifted saxophonist and vocalist, alternated between singing and playing the saxophone throughout the night. Some of the numbers performed included “My Heart Belongs To Daddy,” “Love Vibrations” and “Despondents Flee.”

“We just wanted to perform songs that we just love to play, but also a few numbers that we know the audience would love,” Thurman said. “But most importantly, the basis of the music that we pick is music that feels good and has a positive uplifting message. [In] all the pieces we picked we wanted it to be centered toward that.”

A particularly heartwarming moment came at the end of the night. After the show had concluded, Carbone pointed out Thurman’s mother in the audience. Thurman’s mother, a teacher, was the first person to introduce her daughter to music. While completing research for her thesis for a master’s in literacy and education, she educated herself and her daughter about the musical history and Black performers that originated from their Queens neighborhood.

“I fell in love with music because she had it around me,” Thurman said.

Another pivotal figure in Thurman’s musical journey was her middle school music teacher Mr. Archer, on whom the Disney-Pixar film “Soul” is based. Archer gave Thurman her first flute, and the rest, she says, was history. Thurman experimented with a few more instruments throughout middle school under Archer’s guidance, but discovering the saxophone was her “jackpot.” She gave up her lunch periods to teach herself the fingering and soon enough she was enrolled in a jazz band.

In high school, things took a turn for the worse. Under Archer’s encouragement, Thurman enrolled in a performing arts high school, but was faced with intense sexism.

“The guys literally did everything to stop us from playing, literally,” Thurman said.

After high school, Thurman was drawn to BU because it boasted both a strong academic program and involvement in the arts. It was there that she first caught the attention of Carbone.

“I saw this young woman with three or four instruments strapped around her back,” Carbone said. “I said to her, ‘Excuse me, do you play all those instruments?’”

When Thurman confirmed that she did, Carbone encouraged her to audition for the jazz ensemble. But Thurman’s negative experiences in high school had done a number on her confidence, and, on the night of her audition, she found herself unable to go.

When Carbone later ran into her and asked why she hadn’t tried out, Thurman opened up about the treatment she’d endured in high school.

“He was so crushed to hear my experience,” Thurman said. “He looked up at me and said, ‘You know what, you just need a safe place to learn, you didn’t have access to that for the last two years.’ And that was the first time I ever felt anybody understood me.”

Carbone was able to convince Thurman to audition the next semester. By the time she graduated, she was at a crossroads between pursuing a career in science or taking the leap and going full throttle into the music world. Thankfully, she chose the latter and hasn’t looked back since.

Beyond being a spectacular night of music, the performance was a moment of pride for many of the faculty in BU’s music department, who delighted in seeing an alumni rise to such a world-class level of success.

“She just gets better and better every time I hear her,” Carbone said.

Laurence Elder, an adjunct lecturer in the department of music, was also at the show and loved seeing Thurman thrive in her performance.

“One of the most satisfying things about the job is steering someone in the right direction and helping them pursue their dreams,” Elder said. “To see it come to fruition at such a high level is especially a sweet moment.”

For Thurman especially, the night was a full circle moment and a true homecoming.

“BU is almost like a second home to me because that’s where I kinda was reborn musically,” Thurman said. “That’s where I was kinda put back on track.”