THE name Norma Deloris Egstrom may not have set hearts on fire, but her much more celebrated alter-ego, Peggy Lee, certainly did.

The feted singer was born in 1920, and it may surprise some to learn that she died as recently as 2002. Her music, however, will live on. Or at least, it will if Liz MacEwan has anything to say about.

MacEwan didn't just have something to say last night at the Jam House, she had a great deal to sing, too. Blowing the horn of plenty, she lined up one Lee classic after another in the company of an excellent four-piece band, several of whom were aficionados of the American legend.

Lee's voice and character were inimitable, and besides MacEwan has a perfectly good voice and style of her own, so she had no need to impersonate the woman that Duke Ellington dubbed "the queen". Instead, the show served as an homage to her, her lyric writing skills and her legacy: a wealth of great songs.

The Gershwins' classic 'S Wonderful opened the evening in fine style, perhaps even describing the set list in advance.

Peggy's own I Don't Know Enough About You followed and, thanks to MacEwan's little snippets of history, by the end of the night, the audience knew, if not quite enough, then at least a little more about the singer and her songs.

Swaying, dancing and smiling quietly to herself during solos, it wasn't clear if MacEwan was remembering the original recordings or just revelling in the music coming from behind her on the bandstand.

From his piano, Jack Finlay elegantly led the rhythm section – the deep and sonorous upright bass of Kenny Ellis and the effortless and dynamic drumming of Bob Stewart – a powerful trio in their own right, providing the perfect backdrop for soloist Keith Edwards to weave around their chords with warm, seductive sax playing or delicate and understated flute lines. Edwards literally stepped in at the last moment with no opportunity for rehearsal, but such is the standard of these players that the join was seamless.

Bands and soloists are often guilty of showboating, showing off their impressive skills for the sake of it, but there was none of that here – the only thing that the five exceptional jazz musicians showed off here was their ability to listen properly to, and support one another.

At the end of the day though, the audience was there for two things – Peggy Lee's fabulous repertoire and Liz MacEwan's voice. Her classy, wide-ranging tones caressed favourites like Can't Take That Away From Me, He's A Tramp and the sumptuous Black Coffee. Singing low, MacEwan was sultry and playful on evergreens like The Folks Who Live On The Hill, but when she let loose on the higher notes in Rogers and Hart's Lover, the place lit up.

The much anticipated and inevitable Fever also had exactly the desired effect, even coaxing two lovers to step up to dance delightedly around the floor for a while.

While there was clearly no crass attempt at mimicry, it might be fair to say that there was at least a subtle blending of the two singers taking place. There's no question that they nailed the feel, though.