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“I feel like during that period, it was like, ‘We're a band,’ and we just shared a vision of music and friendship,” she said.
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Miller said the three were all on the same page, and Condos encouraged them to pursue making a record. She called upon Condos for assistance, and the duo were rehearsing music when Bellerose joined in. The trio formed about eight years ago when Miller had a gig and needed a bassist. Thurman went on to be a two-time winner of the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award, a recipient of a Fulbright Scholars Cultural Ambassador Grant and has released multiple full-length albums. “I wanted to figure out what that sound was and be 10 feet tall with my horn like Dexter," she said.
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She said when she heard Gordon, she heard someone with "confidence, wit, sophistication (and) freedom. She said his “imagination and improvisation” rid her of her insecurities about playing the instrument. Thurman attended a listening class and was introduced to Gordon. I didn’t know or see any artists that I could identify myself with at that young age.” I also never saw a woman play the instrument. All I could think of was the instrument being big, bulky, loud and low, everything opposite of what I loved about the alto. “I knew I was going to be made fun of by students. “I was mortified because I was a petite person and the image of me carrying a big tenor saxophone case was a bit scary,” she said.