I'll Be Easy to Find

It's a comeback story that rivals Cher's: Once called by Cannonball Adderly the ''greatest voice since Ella Fitzgerald,'' 65-year-old Thornton returns — triumphantly — with her first record since 1963 (blame alcohol, among other things). Her bluesy contralto on standards like ''I'll Be Seeing You'' gives hopeful lyrics an edge of lived-through-it-all heartbreak, while originals like ''Salty Mama'' swing with the nothing-to-lose abandon of a true jazz artist. A-