Now, G.E. Smith as Musical Host
As they have in recent years, the guitarist G.E. Smith and the musician Taylor Barton-Smith, who live in Amagansett, will liven up the South Fork’s off-season with a host of special events at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, starting on Saturday at 8 p.m. with the launch of the Portraits series.
Ms. Barton-Smith, a singer-songwriter whose album “Everybody Knows” was described in The Star in 2013, serves as curator and producer of the series, which will feature Mr. Smith, the former musical director of “Saturday Night Live” who has toured and recorded with artists including Bob Dylan, Roger Waters, and Hall and Oates. He will perform and speak with artists of various disciplines, starting on Saturday with a trio of diverse talents: the composer Carter Burwell, the artist Dan Rizzie, and the photographer Ralph Gibson.
On Oct. 30, Mr. Waters, formerly of Pink Floyd and a resident of the South Fork, will join Mr. Smith for an intimate performance that is sold out. And on Nov. 7, Ethan Hawke, who portrayed the jazz musician Chet Baker in “Born to Be Blue,” a film that made its U.S. debut on Saturday as part of the Hamptons International Film Festival, will be Mr. Smith’s guest.
Each of the guests will offer their musical talent, whether or not it is the artistic sphere for which they are known. And therein await surprises, Mr. Smith said. Apart from Mr. Waters,he said, “The other people aren’t known as musicians. But they all play music — Ethan Hawke is a good musician!”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous,” said Mr. Rizzie, who lives on North Haven. “But I collect guitars, and have shared that passion with G.E. for years.” Mr. Rizzie described himself as a closet musician. “I really play in my studio,” he said. “Waiting for the paint to dry, sometimes I’ll pick up the guitars,” of which he has about 15.
A fan of 1960s and ’70s rock ’n’ roll and rootsy artists like Steve Earle, Bob Dylan, and the Band, Mr. Rizzie said he will perform three original songs, “which are generally sort of tongue-in-cheek.”
Mr. Waters, Mr. Smith said, “is doing this as a favor to me. He’s never, ever done a solo show and I guarantee he’ll never do one again. People are coming from Europe for that one.” He and Mr. Waters, with whom he played 229 concerts around the world over three years, will talk about the former Pink Floyd bassist and vocalist’s compositions, which are featured on landmark albums including “Dark Side of the Moon,” “Wish You Were Here,” and “The Wall.” “That Pink Floyd-Waters appeal is deep all over the world,” Mr. Smith said.
Each event will be primarily a musical performance. “It’s probably going to be 75 or 80-percent music and 20-percent talking. I will ask a couple questions, and maybe we will have a little conversation, but basically I want to present their music. These people all have something to offer musically. I wouldn’t ask them to do it if I didn’t think the audience would enjoy it.”
He hopes that the Portraits series will continue. “There are more people that live here,” he said, “and have a musical tradition in their lives.”
Tickets to the Portraits series are $35 and are available at baystreet.org, at the box office, and by calling the theater.