Dan's Papers - July 4, 2008 - Take Five 2007 with Jan Silver

For the past few years, Fourth of July weekend offered a relatively quiet family-and-friends interlude amid summer activity - but not this year! "Saturday Night Live" comic Darrell Hammond is onstage at Bay Street Theatre's Comedy Club (Fri. & Sat.). The U.S. Military Academy's Jazz Knights (Fri.), the Neville Brothers (Sat.) and Boz Scaggs (Sun.) perform at Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, and Grammy Award-winning hip-hop violinist Miri Ben-Ari plays at The Hampton Synagogue (Sun.). Starting tonight, musical visitors to Amagansett's Talkhouse this week are Shelby Lynn, Dave Mason, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Sonny Landreth and Eek-A-Mouse.

On Friday morning, Long Island marching bands (and perhaps a few Shinnecock Nation members) convene on Main St., Southampton, at 10 a.m. for the annual Independence Day Parade. Each village holds fireworks celebrations on different evenings (check your local newspapers and chambers of commerce), and the North Sea Fire Department welcomes all to its popular carnival on Noyac Rd. this Thursday through Sunday.

Several critically acclaimed authors read from their new books on Saturday including Dan's Papers' founder Dan Rattiner and international spy novelist Alan Furst. Itzhak and Toby Perlman's Perlman Music Program for musically-gifted students presents informal works-in-progress concerts at its Shelter Island campus Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and a children's concert Sunday at 11:30 a.m. (free admission). Stony Brook Southampton begins its Sustainable Pleasures summer concerts next Thursday, July 10, with Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes performed by a quintet of classically-trained singers accompanied by Pianofest artists (8 p.m., Avram Theater, $40 adults, $25 seniors and Stony Brook alums, $15 students).

Next Tuesday evening, Bay Street Theatre previews Christopher Durang's black comedy Beyond Therapy, starring Kate Burton, Katie Finneran and Darrell Hammond, and the Hamptons Shakespeare Festival teams up with Spitfire Theatre Company to present scenes from Shakespeare's romantic comedies next Thursday and Sunday. Also next Thursday, July 10, the ecologically-minded networking group Hamptons Green Drinks Gatherings begins its summer get-togethers with a cocktail party at the Southampton Inn and an eco-fashion show (6-9 p.m., $15).

There's a fine arts festival at Amagansett's American Legion running this Friday through Sunday and the Artists Alliance of East Hampton begins its 23rd annual studio tour next Thursday (call 631-324-1922 or online artiststudiotour.org). ART Hamptons also opens next Thursday, 6 p.m., at the Bridgehampton Historical Society, with a benefit preview for the American Heart Association ($125 at the door). Other local organizations holding benefits this weekend: Southampton's Fresh Air Home (American Family Picnic and Grucci fireworks, Fri., 7 p.m., tickets $75-$250, 631-283-5847); Sag Harbor's Cormaria Retreat House, (Sat., 6:30 p.m., dinner dance, auction, fireworks; $300, 631-725-4206).

Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center presents West Point's Jazz Knights in a free concert tonight, 7 p.m., as a gift to the local community. Tickets are limited to four per family and available only at the box office in person (no telephone or Internet reservations). On Saturday, the Neville Brothers, New Orleans' first musical family of funk/blues/R&B, perform at 8:30 p.m. ($75-125), and on Sunday, Grammy Award winner Boz Scaggs sings from his rock/jazz/R&B repertory ($145-225). PAC tickets are sold at the box office (631-288-1500) or online at whbpac.org.

Pop music impresario Russell Simmons and his good friend Rabbi Marc Schneier present Grammy Award-winning hip-hop violinist Miri Ben-Ari at The Hampton Synagogue, Westhampton Beach, on Sunday, 7:30 p.m. (free!). On Monday at 5 p.m., Pianofest artists play a weekly recital in the Avram Theater, Stony Brook Southampton ($12 adults, no charge for students), and next Thursday, Stony Brook vocal students and Pianofest artists perform jointly in the Avram Theater at 8 p.m. (see Highlights). On Tuesday, July 8, the Otis Brothers, the East River String Band and the Lone Sharks present "An Evening of American Roots Music" at Pleasure Lounge, Shelter Island, at 7:30 p.m. ($25, reserve at 631-767-8838).

Recommended music at local clubs and restaurants: Montauk-live band Sat. at Surf Lodge; Nancy Atlas Project 6 p.m. Sun. at Gosman's Dock (rain date Mon.), comedy Wed. at Gurney's Inn; Amagansett-live music weekends at Surf Shack, at the Stephen Talkhouse on Fri., Shelby Lynne covers Dusty Springfield then reggae's Winston Irie; on Sat., singer/songwriter Dave Mason then alt. rock Little Head Thinks; on Sun., Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes; next Tues., southern rock/blues with Sonny Landreth; on Thurs., Jamaican phenom Eek-A-Mouse; East Hampton - Mambo Loco on Sat. at Fiddler's Cove, Mamalee Rose & friends at Turtle Crossing on Thurs.; reggae Sun. 6 to 9 p.m. at East Hampton Point; Sagaponack - wine & jazz Thurs. at Wölffer Estate; Bridgehampton - light jazz with Jody Carlson on Tues. at Pierre's, singer Monica Hughes at One Ocean on Thurs.; Sag Harbor - live music Thurs. at Bay Burger; Water Mill - singer/guitarist Steve Fredericks on Thurs. at Muse; Southampton - Phil Gotthelf on Sat. at Southampton Inn, live music weekends at 75 Main and Regulars (new café on North Sea Rd.), Sunnyland Jazz Band at Le Chef on Thurs., Hampton Bays - live music Fri. at Buckley's; Westhampton Beach - live music Fri. at Annona, live music Thurs. to Sat. at The Patio, live music weekends at Westhampton Steakhouse (Swingset Quartet on Thurs.), live music weekends at Artful Dodger, live music Thurs. to Sun. at Starr Boggs; East Quogue - at Dockers Waterside on Fri., Dave Tyler, and Sun., Paul Mahos; Riverhead - live music weekends at Tweed's and Eastenders Coffee House.

Bay Street Theatre's Comedy Club presents Darrell Hammond of television's "Saturday Night Live" this Friday and Saturday at 9 p.m. ($60). Starting Tuesday at 8 p.m., Bay Street begins previews of Chris Durang's black comedy Beyond Therapy (Tues. is pay-what-you-can for two tickets at the Sag Harbor box office at 11 a.m.) The cast is headed by Broadway stars Kate Burton and Katie Finneran, and the show plays Tuesdays through Sundays until July 27. Tickets ($50-65) at sold at the box office (631-725-9500) or online at baystreet.org.

The Hamptons Shakespeare Festival, which is on hiatus since its outdoor theater and staff housing are under renovation, is joining with the touring Spitfire Theatre Company for two performances of "Food of Love," a light-hearted look at Shakespeare's romantic scenes, songs and poems. The first performance is next Thursday at Fort Pond House, Second House Rd., Montauk, rain or shine. Gates open at 6 p.m. (bring seating, a sweater and a picnic dinner); tickets are a suggested $15 donation for adults, $5 for children.

If you read this on July 3, the Hon. Madeleine Kunin, three-time Vermont governor and former U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland, will speak at The Hampton Synagogue, Westhampton Beach, 7:30 p.m., about her new book Pearls, Politics, and Power.

Dan Rattiner reads from his popular memoir In the Hamptons on Saturday, 11 a.m., at Bobby Van's Restaurant, Bridgehampton. Acclaimed foreign intrigue novelist Alan Furst reads from his newest, Spies of Warsaw, on Saturday, 6 p.m., at Canio's Books, Upper Main St., Sag Harbor. The Southampton Historical Society begins its Beach Chair Poetry series next Thurs., July 10, with Anne Porter, Kay Kidde, Dan Giancola and Jackie Moss reading at the historic Rogers Mansion, Meeting House Lane, 5 p.m. On Sunday, author Tim Weiner will speak about Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, 5 p.m. at the Quogue library ($20).

Guild Hall, East Hampton, continues its summer world cinema series "Film Gems from the Janus Collection" next Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., with Luis Bunuel's classic film Viridiana (Spain, 1961) which won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival that year. Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center screens the critically lauded The Grocer's Son (France, 2008) at 8 p.m. next Tuesday through Thursday evenings as its world cinema feature.