I have to work 12 hours today. Can't enjoy my usual dose of Chitlins gospel - no church. But that doesn't mean that I won't take the time to ensure my Crypt people don't have a stellar Sunday!!
Just quickly folks, this album is gonna blow you away. Miss Thornton's voice is on par with the usual suspects of female jazz vocals. She is backed by a small group chock full of stars...
...what more do you need?!?
This is the first (of three) long out of print recordings by Teri Thornton, finally available to the general public. It would not be a stretch to say she is perhaps the most talented, distinctive, clean, out-of-sight singer listeners have never heard....until now. Thornton's powerful, almost chilling voice compares favorably to the pristine tones and vibrato of Sarah Vaughan, the blues sassiness of Dinah Washington, and some of the more soulful refrains of Abbey Lincoln. Simply put, you have to hear her once to believe her. Whether on doleful ballads or raucous swingers, Thornton is totally confident and in control -- of her emotions and yours. From the best version of the Bob Dorough-written title track you are likely to hear, to the regretful ballad "My Old Flame" or the ultimate heart-melter "Left Alone," to an interesting arrangement on a pleading "What's Your Story, Morning Glory?," Thornton charges through the bar lines. Check her forcefulness on "Dancing in the Dark" and "I Feel a Song Coming On." Sometimes she purposefully staggers behind measures to grand effect. Every track is a showstopper, thanks to her uniquely soulful, drama-laden approach. Potent, unobtrusive horn charts feature legends like trumpeter Clark Terry, trombonist Britt Woodman, and saxophonists Earle Warren and Seldon Powell. The rhythm section of guitarist Freddie Green (half the tracks, Sam Herman on the others), pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Jimmy Cobb can do no wrong. Arranger par excellence Norman Simmons provided the perfect charts. This is an important document of a truly great jazz singer, and is essential in the collection of every serious aficionado. The only one regret is that it can't be given several handfuls of *****. ~ Michael G. Nastos
Riverside RLP 352
1961
New York, NY (12/23/1960/01/10/1961); Plaza Sound Studios,
New York, NY (12/23/1960/01/10/1961).
Teri Thornton (vocals); Norman Simmons (conductor, arranger); Freddie Green, Sam Herman (guitar); Seldon Powell (saxophone); Earle Warren (alto saxophone); Clark Terry (trumpet, flugelhorn); Britt Woodman (trombone); Wynton Kelly (piano); Jimmy Cobb (drums)
Thanks Poppachubby I'm keen to hear this one and educate myself on Teri's vocal prowess and wow what a great lineup she had to back her.
ReplyDeleteMighty high praise in that description. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeletePoppa ! Another homerun for your handiwork and Teri. She can (and will) sing for me anytime... :-) Thanks !
ReplyDeleteThe perfect voice for this Sunday. What a treat Thanks, Poppa.
ReplyDeleteThank u, thank u, thank u
ReplyDeleteVery, very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Great to discover this really fine jazz singer. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThank you. In my ears there`s a gap between this overwelming written words and what I hear - but, as always, it`s a matter of taste. Thanks anyway.
ReplyDeleteHello! and thank you so much for this discovery.All the best from jerusalem
ReplyDeleteShe was great, and I highly recommend her last LP, I'll be Easy to Find, but how many know of her life?
ReplyDeleteFrom the web: Teri Thornton’s career as a jazz singer was a notably roller-coaster affair, moving from early struggles to success and back to obscurity again, before enjoying a remarkable final flourish in the last two years of her life. Her final comeback was sparked by winning the vocalist section of the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 1998, an honour usually given to young performers.
Thornton was already in her early 60s when she took the prize. Her dark, slightly husky voice, emotive delivery and ingrained understanding of the music won over the judges, and her award was quickly followed by a major label recording contract with Verve.
Her debut album for the label, I’ll Be Easy To Find, was her first record since the mid-1960s, and was released to great acclaim in 1999, while her live performances in New York confirmed that she was not only back in harness, but was still a jazz singer of the first rank, with a particular flair for expressive interpretations of the blues.
Throughout this remarkable comeback, however, Thornton had been suffering from bladder cancer. She was first diagnosed in 1997, but decided to enter the Monk competition in any case, and she was able to enjoy the fruits of her success while in remission. She performed a week long residence at the Village Vanguard in New York as recently as January, but died of complications of the disease.
She was born Shirley Enid Avery in Detroit, where he mother was a singer and the director of a local gospel choir. She encouraged her daughter to study classical music, but as a teenager she turned to jazz, singing and playing piano. She was married young, had two children, and went through a divorce before she was twenty.
Her professional career began shortly afterwards at the Ebony Club in Cleveland. She moved to Chicago, where she worked with saxophonists Cannonball Adderley (who called her the greatest voice since Ella Fitzgerald) and Johnny Griffin, as well as playing intermission piano at a strip club called the Red Garter.
She began to make a bigger impression on a national basis in the early 1960s, initially with the release of her debut album for the Riverside label, Devil May Care, in 1961. She scored her biggest hit in 1963 with ‘Somewhere In The Night’, the theme tune from the popular television series Naked City. The increased profile it brought included an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, a recording contract with Columbia Records, and the personal stamp of approval of Ella Fitzgerald, who described her as her favourite singer in an interview in Down Beat.
Her rise was not to be sustained. Jazz was entering a difficult period in any case, but her own problems with poor managers, alcohol and drugs also took their toll, and she quickly slipped from the public eye. She moved to Los Angeles at the end of the decade, and gave up singing professionally until 1979, when she reemerged singing and playing in small piano bars.
She moved to New York in 1983, where she established herself on the club scene, and made a steady living in restaurant and lounge gigs until that surprise breakthrough in the Monk competition brought her back into international prominence, albeit all too briefly.
She was married three times in all, and is survived by two sons, a daughter, and six grandchildren.
A true revelation!I hope one day to listen to this fabulously embracing voice in lossless.All the best from jerusalem
ReplyDeleteThanks poppa - I know the name but never heard anything by her. She's one of those singers I've always meant to explore but never got around to it.
ReplyDeleteSo, here's my big chance. Sounds good on one sample track.
New to me too, but fine. Thanks.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mediafire.com/download.php?j94plis74kfqkxr
ReplyDeleteThanks I was recently checking out various versions of Left Alone and happy to listen to another one too.
ReplyDeleteThanks I was recently checking out various versions of Left Alone and happy to listen to another one too.
ReplyDeleteWell, this is one that got away with mediafire, but thx anyway!!
ReplyDeleteI liek the idea of Earle Warren on the date. Underrecorded in smaller bands.