Search - Teri Thornton :: Open Highway

Teri Thornton, a gem ripe for discovery

T. H VonZabern | Boston, MA, USA | 02/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Take the honeyed sultriness of Sarah Vaughn's voice, add the brilliant highlights of Lena Horne at her best, throw in musical versatility that enables her to dance between blues, jazz, bossa nova, country and standards, and you've got Teri Thornton, one of the brightest and best of the early '60's. She recorded 2 brilliant albums ("Devil may Care" and "Open Highway"), and then things started to go wrong. Drugs, alcohol, insecurity and predatory husbands interfered with her career and ended what appeared to be a meteoric rise to stardom. After 35 years of obscurity, and singing in bars and dives, just surviving, Teri resurfaced in 1998 with new management and a new album "I'll be easy to find"). She won top honors in the International Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition, and seemed poised for a successful comeback. Then disaster struck again, this time in the form of cancer, and ended her life in 2000.As tragic as her life was, nothing can detract from her raw talent, her emotional intensity and wonderful musicianship, as this album convincingly attests to. If you like Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington and Lena Horne, buy this album."