Society presentation -- Marriott Castle Harbour Resort -- March 11 and 12.

*** In an interview with The Royal Gazette on Thursday, jazz diva Cleo Laine was asked what she had planned for her listeners when she took to the stage for her two Bermuda performances this past weekend.

"To entertain,'' was her simple reply -- and so in fact she did, in a grand and munificent style that ultimately had members of the 500-or-so-strong audience in the Marriott ballroom on Saturday night begging for more.

Of course, the woman that is known alternately as the Queen or First Lady of Jazz -- I suppose it depends on which side of the Atlantic she is appearing at the time -- was more than well-served by her red-hot band of accompanists: husband John Dankworth on the sax, Larry Dunlap on the piano, David Dunaway on bass and Jim Zimmerman on the drums.

Opening with two instrumental numbers -- the romantic "Moon Valley'' by Mr.

Dankworth and a spicy little piece called "Macho Gazpacho'' -- the quartet provided the foreplay for Ms Laine's eventual seduction.

And can the singer seduce. Gliding onstage in a low-cut dress of black velvet, she initially toyed with the audience, tossing out snippets of varying types of songs, from the achingly romantic "It Might As Well Be Spring'' to the plaintive "Won't You Tell Me Why?'' to a mystery number from Ms Laine's latest recording, "Nothing Without You.'' "To find out (what the last song was),'' the songstress said coquettishly, "you'll have to buy (the recording).'' From there, Ms Laine preceded a too-beautiful delivery of "I Don't Know Why I Love You Like I Do'' with an anecdote about how she lost pianist Dudley Moore, the writer of the song, to comedy and film.

She concluded the first half of the show with three thrilling blues numbers by W.C. Handy, Duke Ellington and Billie Holliday.

During the second half of the show, the pseudo-sexual fait of Ms Laine's performance became effectively accompli .

Wearing flaming red crepe, the singer set the house on fire, shifting from the melancholy-hopeful "I Believe The Lies Of Handsome Men'' by New Yorker Francesca Blumenthal to a show-stopping rendition of "It Don't Mean A Thing If It Got That Swing'' to the heartbreaking English folk song that asks: "How can you tell me that for you the sun don't shine?'' All the while, Ms Laine gave ample demonstration of her characteristic range, dancing a seamless aural duet with her husband John's sax, jumping in a matter of nanoseconds through an entire span of notes and effectively defining the style that is `scat.' (Perhaps only the legendary Mel Torme, a frequent collaborator of Ms Laine's, can do scat better.) In the end, the audience on Saturday was not content to bask in the afterglow of Ms Laine's performance, eventually jumping to its feet and demanding an encore.

Ever-gracious, the powerhouse that is Laine and Dankworth complied, capping off with an homage to lost youth and Peggy Lee: the mournful "When The World Was Young.'' Earlier in the evening, Ms Laine sang from two songs that might have been considered as fitting metaphors for the experience.

One was George and Ira Gershwin's "Lady Be Good,'' an obvious analogy, as the lady was good indeed.

The other was the Blumenthal composition, which began: "I believe in star signs nd I believe in film romances believe in fantasies.'' Perhaps the greatest compliment that can be extended to the talents of Ms Laine and Mr. Dankworth is that by the end of the evening they also had the audience believing.

DANNY SINOPOLI HITTING THE RIGHT NOTES -- Cleo Laine, who wowed Bermudians at the weekend.