Teri Thornton

After a nearly 40-year hiatus, Thornton is back to swing and sing her way into your heart. In comparison to her old Riverside recordings, it seems she's lost nothing vocally, the angelic clarity and souful vibrato intact, her enthuisiasm spiking depth charts. She's backed by her own piano on four cuts, the able Ray Chew on the others save Norman Simmons for the sole live in concert finale (she and Simmons are credited?) with bassist Lonnie Plaxico, alto sax and flute master Jerome Richardson, trombonist Dave Bargeron, multi-instrumentalist Howard Johnson, and dummer J.T. Lewis. At her best on ballads, blues and upbeat swingers, Thornton proves she really can do it all. Her rippling, Ella cum Sarah chords are unfettered on a rousing live "Salty Mama" with Grady Tate (drums) and Michael Bowie (bass). The funky blues is alright with Thornton on "Feels Good." A showstopper "Knee Deep in the Blues," and the faded in and out bossa "Wishing Well" are all from her pen. The most unusual arrangement by producer Suzi Reynolds of "Nature Boy" has no discernable time signature. It's kinetic but seems to float, Plaxico punctuating but never seeming to ever hit one. Richardson's great flute work and the background horns of Bargeron and Johnson play inquisitive mind games, quite a challenging listen. She sings ballads "Somewhere In The Night," "Where Are You Running?" and the title cut immaculately, though not kitten soft but forcefully pronounced. She's boppin' on "It Ain't Necessarily So," adapts "The Lord's Prayer" in a modal vein, Chew's piano chordally searching for deliverance, while Thornton really shines instrumentally on "I'll Be Seeing You" in a fashion that does rival Shirley Horn.

There is a definitive song "I Believe in You" a great lyric that seems to sum up the influence of a certain someone that has helped Thornton through her battles with cancer and the constant yin-yang of raising a family for these past four decades. Teri Thornton is emphatically back with this complete view of an artist, finally giving us a taste of what we've suspected for lo these many years. ~ Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide