The Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon (JOSA) series will host performances by two extraordinary jazz vocalists, Amanda Carr on March 8 and Shawnn Monteiro on March 22, at The Center at Eastman’s Bistro Nouveau in Grantham.

Now in its 28th season, JOSA brings internationally acclaimed jazz musicians — backed up by Bill Wightman and the JOSA Ensemble—to the Upper Valley every other Sunday from December to April. These performances offer rare opportunities to experience spontaneous jazz sessions led by many of our nation’s most talented jazz artists.

Amanda Carr began her musical career as a teenage vocalist and pianist performing with pop and rock bands at Boston nightclubs. The daughter of Big Band vocalist Nancy Carr and trumpeter Nick Capezuto, she soon turned to jazz and big band music, offering her fresh interpretations of the Great American Songbook. Today Carr is a frequent guest vocalist with Keith Lockhart and The Boston Pops, The Artie Shaw Orchestra, Harry James Band and the Glenn Miller Orchestra, as well as a headlining artist at jazz festivals around the world.

Carr created and headlined a successful cross-country tour show, “A Tribute to Peggy Lee,” which sold out 30 dates around the country. She has also composed and performed music for two PBS documentaries, “The Story of Golf,” which received an Emmy Nomination, and “Boston Red Sox: 100 Years of Baseball History.” Carr’s most ambitious project, a big band album called “Common Thread,” debuted on the top of multiple jazz best-seller charts and in the top 50 on Billboard.

“No matter in what genre Amanda is performing, she brings and excitement and energy to the stage and a vibrant connection to her audience,” notes The Boston Herald. “She is an entertainer of the first degree.”

Jazz also comes naturally to Shawnn Monteiro, daughter of the late Jimmy Woode, bassist for the Duke Ellington band. The lyrical liveliness of her phrasing and intermittent scat variations also reveal the influences of Carmen McRae and Sarah Vaughan, from whom she draws her core of creative energy. Monteiro also benefited from the musical inspiration and guidance of her godfather, trumpeter Clark Terry.