JAZZ REVIEW : Yve’s Performance Is Not Your Garden Variety : With a clear, supple tone and a clever sense of phrasing, Evans turns otherwise-overdone numbers into well-done efforts.

It isn’t easy for singers to put their mark on familiar songs and make them their own. But that’s exactly what Yve Evans did at Tuesday’s first set at the Cafe Lido.

During a performance of a half-dozen jazz and pop standards, Evans applied a clear, supple tone and a clever sense of phrasing to put her brand on such overdone numbers as “When I Fall in Love” and “Satin Doll.” Even more amazing is the fact that she didn’t resort to catchy, stylistic gimmicks or wild dynamic displays to set her treatments apart, but relied simply on the strength and beauty of her voice.

Take, for instance, her rendition of “Satin Doll.” As saxophonist Wayne Wayne’s quartet chugged into the familiar melody, Evans began by messing with its rhythm, staggering the familiar lines while putting the accents in unfamiliar places. She also toyed with the lyric, adding a word or two here, deleting one there. The result was a bouncy yet cohesive statement that Ellington himself might have admired.

The quality of Evans’ voice came through best on sustained tones, which she struck with a faultless pitch before adding a wide, seductive vibrato. Though not always as pure in the upper register, her range was wide and satisfying. Often she would begin a phrase on a polished, mid-range tone, then slide it up an octave before proceeding.

Evans also showed a willingness to take on a wide variety of material. She was coyly convincing during Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me,” extending the lyric with some well-timed banter directed to a member of the audience who was passing by the stage. Leon Russell’s “This Masquerade” was served up as a somber lament with a touch of sincerity missing from George Benson’s well-known version. Her down-and-dirty approach to “If I Can’t Sell It, I’ll Keep Sitting on It,” an old number that Ruth Brown revived for the musical “Black and Blue” played to the song’s sexy double entendre without relying on excessive mugging. “When I Fall in Love” was warm, cozy and glistening with the lyric’s naive optimism.

Saxophonist Wayne proved an adept foil for Evans, punching up the mood with his alto or tenor, blending his flute in subtle ways with her voice. Keyboardist Peggy Duquesnel provided appropriately spare accompaniment for “When I Fall in Love,” then put some spunk into “This Masquerade” with soulful block chords. Dependable timekeeping from drummer Gary Wing, matched with Melvin Davis’ resourceful bass lines, made for a solid foundation.

The band, without Evans, opened with a be-bop flavored “Joy Spring” that featured Wayne’s Charlie Parker references on alto, and “Some Other Time” (from the musical “On the Town”), brought up to date with Davis well-honed electric bass lines.

* Yve Evans and the Wayne Wayne Quartet will appear Tuesdays through May at the Cafe Lido, 501 30th St., Newport Beach. Information: (714) 675-2968. SONGS OF YVE: Yve Evans turned otherwise-overdone numbers into well-done efforts with her clear, supple tone and clever sense of phrasing during her show at the Cafe Lido in Newport Beach.