Dan's Papers -February 19, 2010 -MusicHampton? I Think I'm Dreaming

Over the weekend, I heard an amazing variety of good music. A stride pianist of international repute played a free concert in an idyllic setting with beautiful natural acoustics. A uniquely talented singer/songwriter with great vocals and top-tier musicians rocked a music club. Four classical singers with international credentials presented a recital of 20th century American Art Songs.

And it was all in the Hamptons. In one weekend. In February.

Pinch me. I must be dreaming.

While the city dizzies you with options, the Hamptons in the off-season typically numbed you with limitations. For years, winter weekends in the Hamptons meant movies, bars or 12-step meetings-usually in that order. But now, even in these challenging economic times, clubs and cultural institutions are keeping it alive for all of us, year round.

The first show I heard was one of Wolffer Estate's Candlelight Fridays series where, starting at 5 p.m., the lovely tasting room is open, with musicians playing and Wolffer wines flowing. It's one of the prettiest venues out here for music, which can be enjoyed at no charge. On Feb. 12, Judy Carmichael played a full set of stride piano on an outrageously gorgeous-sounding Steinway concert grand, and treated the audience with a few of her sultry vocals. The atmosphere in the place is casual and friendly-not to mention crowded for this show. Friends and strangers made room at their precious tables for others to pull up a chair. It felt like a impromptu concert at a vineyard in Tuscany. But it was here.

Saturday night I found myself at The Stephen Talkhouse, where local singer/songwriter Lisa Bonner set an enthusiastic mood for Inda Eaton, a uniquely talented singer/songwriter who played to a full house. Eaton writes songs that are a little Indigo Girls, a little Springsteen, but largely-her. I was struck by how accessible the tunes were without being trite or simplistic. These were perfectly structured songs with good lyrics that led the first-time listener easily from section to section. Eaton's vocals and stage presence are confident and highly likable. Her musicians-Eve Nelson (piano/keyboard), B. Rehm-Gerdes (guitar), and Jeff Marshall (percussion)-are established studio and concert players that were totally in her groove. Eaton's vocals blended surprisingly well with local singing legend Mama Lee Lawler. The cost of entry was a mere 10 bucks, no drink minimum. This, the unexpected highlight of the music weekend, was like a Saturday at The Bottom Line, but it was here.

Sunday was the Stony Brook Opera's "Celebration of American Song" at the Southampton Cultural Center, featuring works by Aaron Copland, Andre Previn, Ned Rorem, George Gershwin, and my fellow Carnegie-Mellon classmate, Ricky Ian Gordon. Four members of Stony Brook's doctoral program (Risa Harman, Greta Feeney, Alison Trainer and Andrew Fuchs) sang, accompanied by Associate Professor Timothy Long. This music isn't easy for the singers nor the first time listeners-not (as we used to say, cattily) "melodies you can whistle all the way to the parking lot." No matter. Challenge is good. And the singers were up to the task. Feeney was my favorite of the women, although Harman has some killer money notes. Andrew Fuchs' rendition of "The Nightingale," a dialogue between a soldier and a maiden, was dramatically the strongest piece of the first act. In the song, the soldier rebuffs the maiden, since he can only have one love-England-while doing his duty. But as the piano part played on, Fuchs registered a subtle, winsome expression that made you feel the young soldier's doubt, a chink in his armor of resolve. It felt like a concert at the Weill Recital Hall, but it was here.

These days, there's more to the winters in the Hamptons than northern winds, freezing surf and blowing snow. There's music in the air.