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Teri Thornton, born Shirley Enid Avery on September 1, 1934, was an American jazz singer, composer, and pianist born in Detroit, Michigan. She began singing in school choirs and taking part in local amateur contests and jam sessions before starting her professional career in Chicago clubs as a vocalist and pianist. Her breakthrough came in 1961 with the Riverside Records album Devil May Care. In 1962, she recorded "Somewhere in the Night", the theme song for the TV series Naked City, which led to television appearances and wider recognition. She released Teri Thornton Sings Open Highway (1963) on Columbia Records and appeared in a 1964 television tribute alongside Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington. Her career slowed in the late 1960s as popular music shifted, and she later returned to performing in smaller venues. Thornton won the Thelonious Monk Competition in 1998, leading to her final album Iâll Be Easy to Find (1999).
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