Tonight, the Beacher Café on Queen Street East has been converted to a jazz lounge.

Patrons finish meals, sip wine and converse amicably. The atmosphere is relaxed. Half an hour before the show, an air of expectancy reigns.

One woman stands out. Dressed in a beautiful black strapless evening dress, she moves from table to table. Jeanine Mackie, singer for Blue Martini Jazz, greets patrons, friends, and fellow Beachers.

One by one, the band members take their place. Brian Dickinson on keyboards, Paul Novotny on bass, Terry Clark on drums.

Pat Perez, renowned saxophonist and collaborator with Mackie, picks up his instrument. These players are the best backup a singer could want.

They each strut their stuff for a few bars and Jeanine Mackie walks up to the mike for “East of the Sun,” a lively opening number.

The audience responds appreciatively.

It’s a long way from garage bands, product launches and the church choir run by Mackie’s grandmother.

“The first big audience I had to play in front of was approximately 3,000 people,” she says. “It was the launch of Blue Light Beer. I was so nervous.”

She does not appear nervous tonight. Poised and charming, she introduces a new tune, “Get out of Town.”

Close your eyes and her well-modulated voice transports you to a semi-dark, smoke-filled, basement jazz club. It makes you want to light a cigar and have a martini.

Mackie says that lyrics are important to her, that she has to be able to “climb” into a song. She wants people to feel what she sings. Connection with her audience is important.

Mackie dedicates “Something Cool” to Steven Rudd, a patron sitting at a nearby table. He found her CD in a store a couple of years ago and emailed her, wanting to know where he could hear her sing.

He has been to all her shows ever since. Tonight he has driven in from Hamilton with his family and friends to hear her once again.

“I try and convey the lyrics to people,” Mackie says. “To me, the words are like poetry, they create an image.”

She loves singing and it shows.

“I get lost in a song,” is how she puts it.

Mackie’s style is sometimes smoky, sometimes sultry, other times belted out, but always smooth as silk. The musicians’ notes swirl around her lyrics, carry and engage them and then break off in exuberant cameos.

If you could give joy a musical personality, this would be it.

They close the show with an up-tempo swing arrangement of “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise.”

The crowd wants more. Jeannie and the Blue Martini band acquiesce with “Lazy Afternoon.” For both the crowd and Blue Martini, it’s been a perfect summer night; a good meal, a little wine and great jazz.

“Music is the sparkle in my life,” she says. “After a good show I’m completely satiated, completely contented.”

Vigorous applause shows that that evening diners are also satisfied with their musical dessert.