Teri Thornton

Teri Thornton (born Shirley Enid Avery, September 1, 1934 – May 2, 2000) was an American jazz singer, music composer and pianist. She was known for recording several albums in the 1960's with a career spanning over four decades and composing several songs. She was also known for her work with musicians such as Duke Ellington, Clark Terry, Johnny Griffin, and Cannonball Adderley. Adderley called her "the best voice since Ella Fitzgerald". Ella Fitzgerald herself even told Downbeat Magazine that Thornton "was her favorite singer".

Early life Teri Thornton was born Shirley Enid Avery on September 1, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan, the only child of Robert Avery, a pullman porter and Bernice Crews Avery, a choir director and singer and the host of a local radio show. Unfortunately, these records proved futile to keep Thornton stable financially and her contract with Columbia Records was terminated. This forced Thornton to drift across the country, looking for employment. Thornton signed a contract with Verve Records and released her final album I'll Be Easy to Find, her first album in over three decades,

Personal life Thornton gave birth to 3 children: sons Kenneth Thornton and Kelly Glusovich, and daughter Rose McKinney-James. Thornton raised her children as a single parent in the 1960s and 1970s after an earlier divorce, while at the same time balancing other commitments, which resulted in her relocating multiple times to various cities across the United States.

Death In the early 90s, Thornton was diagnosed with bladder cancer which she initially fought for 3 years. The cancer returned again toward the end of the 1990s. While performing at the Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 1998, she collapsed onstage and was transported to Englewood Hospital where she underwent emergency surgery, after which it was confirmed that the cancer had worsened and spread. Thornton subsequently received radiation and chemotherapy treatments. She died on May 2, 2000 at the age of 65 from complications related to the disease.

Discography Albums Devil May Care (Riverside, 1961) Sings Open Highway (Columbia, 1963) Somewhere in the Night (Dauntless, 1963) Great Jazz Artists Play Compositions Of Irving Berlin (1965, with Bill Evans, Charlie Byrd & Billy Taylor, Riverside Records) I'll Be Easy to Find (Verve, 1999) Sell Out and Move (with Rodd Keith) (M.S.R. Records) Terri and Rodd and the Librettos (with the Librettos) (M.S.R. Records) The Voice of Teri Thornton Lullaby of the Leaves (compilation album, 2016, Fresh Sound Records) Singles (LP vinyls)

Feelin' Fruggy (1965, composer) Either Way I Lose / Why Don't You Love Me (1964) To Remember You By / Won't Someone Please Belong To Me (1965) Somewhere in the Night (Naked City Theme) / Heart (1963) Every Time I Think About You / To Remember You By (1965) Where Was I? / Molly Marlene (1967) Lullaby of the Leaves / Devil May Care (1961) The Secret Life / Where Are You Love? (1964) Open Highway ("Route 66" Theme) / Every Time I Think About You (1963) You Don't Know / Cold, Cold Heart (1964) Either Way I Lose / Walk Hand in Hand Wonderful My Love / The Other Woman (1965) Come on Back to Detroit (1983)