Teri Thornton - Lullaby of the Leaves: The Voice of Teri Thornton (2016)

Dubbed by Cannonball Adderley the greatest voice since Ella Fitzgerald Detroit-born Teri Thornton (1934-2000) moved to the Big Apple in 1960, where she was an immediate hit with the city s seasoned jazz musicians and sophisticated audiences. It led to her first album, Devil May Care, for Riverside, where she was backed by some of New York s brightest jazzmen, including Clark Terry, Britt Woodman, Seldon Powell and a rhythm section that boasted, among others, Wynton Kelly, Sam Jones, Jimmy Cobb and Freddie Green. A sagacious venture into the Great American Songbook allowed her to display a fine feel for the lyrics and a voice like nobody else s.
In 1961 Chicago deejays gave her the Coming Star of the Year Award and the following year she signed for Dauntless. Hailed as one of the most exciting voices of her generation , she had a hit single with Somewhere in the Night, which became the name of her 1963 album. Again front-rank jazzmen were involved, among them Charlie Mariano, Joe Farrell, Nick Brignola, Eddie Bert and Dave Frishberg. Well-chosen material allowed her to make the most of her contralto-rich, distinctive vocal quality and decided individuality of delivery, and both albums add up to a fitting memorial to a singular jazz vocal talent of whom Freddie Green once said: This girl has got to make it. If she doesn t, something s very wrong. He was right.