It’s always been difficult for females in jazz to obtain the recognition their talent deserves. Easier perhaps in the UK than in America. Take Kathy Stobart, for instance, a particularly strong tenor player, who fronted her own groups (one totally uncommercial, à la Lennie Tristano) before settling down with Humphrey Lyttleton. Or her successor, Karen Sharp or, for that matter, Barbara Thompson. Then there is today’s generation’s – Tori Freestone and Camilla George. This writer’s all-time favourite female saxophonist-vocalist is California-born Vi Redd (now 90), whose alto playing in the 1960s was so outstanding that, even if booked as support act, she would often steal the show from much better known top-of-the-bill artistes. But it wasn’t easy. On her guest spots with Dizzy Gillespie, he’d come up with a lot of crude gender jokes. I was hoping that Camille Thurman would be as good – she plays tenor breathily with a lot of feeling, not alto, but this Chesky release features her vocals more than her playing and you have to wait for ages for any tenor solos. As a jazz singer, though, she’s superb. Very much in the bebop tradition, she swings incessantly and, though her scat singing may sound somewhat dated at times, she obviously loves what she’s doing and does it so well. Guest star Jeremy Pelt, who mentored Thurman when she was younger, says she has “a beautifuldisposition”. For some reason, his solos are extremely over-echoed. If there’s a follow-up album, let’s hope to hear more tenor.