Teri Thornton

Teri Thornton, born Shirley Enid Avery (September 1, 1934, Detroit, Michigan - May 2, 2000, Englewood, New Jersey) was an American jazz singer.

Thornton first performed in local Detroit clubs in the 1950s. She moved to New York City in the 1960s, where she found work singing for television advertisements, and recorded for several different labels. Her 1960 release "Devil May Care" featured Clark Terry on trumpet, Freddie Green and Sam Herman on guitar, Earl Warren and Seldon Powell on saxophone, Britt Woodman on trombone, Wynton Kelly on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums, with Norman Simmons arranging.

Late in the 1960s Thornton receded from view. She played clubs in New York after moving back there from Los Angeles in 1983, and in the 1990s she fully revived her career. She was a resident of the Actors' Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey. [Ratliff, Ben. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04EEDA1538F934A35756C0A9669C8B63&scp=1&sq=%22teri+thornton%22&st=nyt "Teri Thornton Is Dead at 65; Jazz Singer Had Hits in 1960's"] , "The New York Times", May 7, 2000. Accessed February 23, 2008.] She was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1998, and died of the disease in 2000. [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:09fexql5ldfe~T1 Teri Thornton] at Allmusic]

Discography

*"Devil May Care" (1960)
*"Lullaby of the Leaves"
*"Open Highway" (1963)
*"Somewhere In the Night" (1963)
*"I'll Be Easy to Find" (Verve Records, 1999) U.S. Jazz #24 [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:09fexql5ldfe~T5 Billboard] , Allmusic]

References