Jody Shayne is an unlikely jazz chanteuse.

Shayne is soft-spoken, quietly speaking with an unassuming air of her long musical career in the Capital Region during an interview at her home in Niskayuna. But listen to Shayne sing, and it’s almost as if a different person has inhabited her small frame. Her once-quiet voice changes into a forceful croon, commanding attention on her originals and songs from artists including Pat Metheny and Michelle Petrucciani, which will be included on a CD she is currently recording.

When Shayne performs at The Stockade Inn with pianist Peg Delaney at 7 p.m. Thursday, she’ll try to bring a “different twist” to the standards she does perform, alongside her originals.

“I’m always learning new songs; my repertoire is way too big,” Shayne said with a laugh. “I used to always look for the most obscure songs to perform, but I’ve gotten over that. . . . I’m excited about doing the tunes I’ve written lyrics to for the CD.”

First album in 10 years

Her CD, which she is recording with her husband, bassist Russ Brooks; pianist Scott Bassinson; and drummer Hal Miller, will be her first official album since 1998’s “Love is a Garden” with pianist Paul Mastriani, which is available from www.cduniverse.com. “It’s been a while, yeah. Kind of sad, isn’t it?” she said.

Unlike the material she is working on now, “Love is a Garden” featured all original compositions, with lyrics by Shayne and music by Mastriani. According to Shayne, the approach was “not the way to get a best seller.”

“In jazz, you want to see things you’ve heard before,” Shayne said. “I’m the same way. It gives you something to compare things against. . . . When you pick up a CD, you look for something you know. You have to have a mix, at least in the beginning.”

The new CD, which Shayne said she hopes to have completed in six months, caps off a resurgence of sorts for her performing career. About a year ago, she left her job of five years as a piano teacher and administrator at Hamilton Hill Art Center to focus on her music. She still continues to teach private vocal lessons out of her home.

Shayne has been living and performing in the Capital Region since 1975, and she also grew up here. She studied photography at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City for only one semester before heading to Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1969.

She eventually ended up in Newburgh, working with a top-40 pop music cover band. “We had one night off a week, and we used to go to a club in New York called Slug’s to see jazz players,” Shayne said. “I saw Art Blakey there, he was amazing to see live. . . . I saw Lee Morgan there; his wife shot him at Slug’s.”

Preference for singing

Although Shayne studied piano at Berklee, she doesn’t often perform on the instrument. At the time she attended, Berklee did not have a voice program, although she did study voice through workshops and private lessons.

“I’m a better singer than piano player,” Shayne said. “I like to work with really good players; it’s fun, and I can concentrate more on the music when I’m not playing.”

Delaney is a longtime creative partner of Shayne’s. The two began playing and writing songs together shortly after Shayne returned to the region, and also perform together in Jazz Voices, along with vocalists Teresa Broadwell and Colleen Pratt. For the past two years, Shayne has also studied voice with Kate McGarry, a jazz singer with Palmetto Records.

Shayne’s influences include Billie Holiday, pianist Bill Evans, Dutch singer Fay Claassen and Sheila Jordan, whom Shayne has been friends with for 30 years. “It’s not like, Ella [Fitzgerald]; I like a lot of instrumentalists,” Shayne said.

However, when it comes to Shayne’s own performances, the lyrics are the most important part of the song.

“I really like to tell a story when I sing. The lyrics are really important to me,” Shayne said. “If I like the melody but I don’t like the lyrics, I probably won’t do that tune.”

Although Shayne tries to stay open to contemporary music, she said that jazz is what “does it” for her.

“There’s so much creativity and performance with jazz, not just improvisation on the melody,” Shayne said. “You can play with a tune, change the words, bring a different emotion to the same song. It feels like there’s no ceiling; you can always keep reaching for new things.”

Jody Shayne Duo

when: 7 p.m. Thursday

where: The Stockade Inn, 1 N. Church St., Schenectady

how much: Free

more info: 346-3400, www.stockadeinn.com