Sag Harbor will be alive with the sound of music Thursday through Sunday as the Sag Harbor American Music Festival returns for its ninth iteration with free performances by more than 30 artists at various locations throughout the village as well as three ticketed events.
“Queen of Soul: A Musical Tribute to Aretha Franklin” will kick off the festivities Thurday at 8 p.m. at Bay Street Theater with performances by Dawnette Darden, Marvin Joshua, and the HooDoo Loungers; Danyel Fulton, a musical theater veteran, and Byron Preston and the Life Singers, a gospel choir.
Jane Monheit, a two-time Grammy nominee, will perform at the Old Whalers Church Friday evening at 8. The jazz and pop vocalist has released 11 albums and appeared on “Late Show With David Letterman,” “The View,” and “Today.” Admission to each concert is $35.
The Scofflaws, a third wave ska band based in Huntington, will bring their horn solos and tight arrangements to Bay Street Theater for a dance party on Saturday at 9 p.m. Tickets are $25.
Saturday’s one-hour performances will begin at 10 a.m. at Windmill Beach with Escola de Samba Boom and conclude with Hopefully Forgiven at K Pasa at 8 p.m. The Jam Session will kick things off on Sunday at noon with an Afro-Latin jazz program at the Jackson Dodds and Co. stage next to the American Hotel. The festival will wind up with a 5 p.m. performance by Inda Eaton at the Sag Harbor Express stage at Marine Park. In between, performers will play free sets all over the village.
Among the other performers are the Jim Turner Band, Joe Delia and Thieves, Caroline Doctorow and the Ballad Makers, Ludmilla and Marcello, Gene Casey and the Lone Sharks, Mamalee Rose and Friends, the Nancy Atlas Project, and Jake Lear.
All performances will take place rain or shine. A complete schedule is at sagharbormusic.org.