"I buy fans everywhere I go," added Monteiro. Her ornate fans marry function and form -- as they cool her, they match her colorful outfits. Make no mistake, this is no diva sporting attitude but not delivering on the real goods. She's the "real deal" as the jazz greats say. Whether the nicely sized audience came out purely for the air conditioning or to hear Monteiro, it didn't matter - they were in store for a real treat listening to the late renowned bassist (and Duke Ellington veteran) Jimmy Woode's daughter show off her pipes. As early as the first tune, audience members were tapping their feet keeping time with the stellar rhythm section.

Monteiro's specialty is "The American Songbook," and her rendition of "Old Devil Moon" sounded completely new, as if it had never been sung before, peppered with Shawnn's sex appeal and sass. "Blue Skies" was smooth as silk, complete with melodic scat, transitioned into Thelonious Monk's "In Walked Bud." The two tunes together made for a brilliant composition. Unlike some modern cabaret or musical theatre singers who consider themselves high priestesses of jazz, when Monteiro sings, you know immediately this woman has lived inside her songs and earned the right to call herself a jazz singer. She takes the classic songbook and makes them completely and inimitably her own.