‘SNL’ Band’s Onstage Reunion to Take Place at Bay Street on Saturday

G.E. Smith

On Saturday night at 8, G.E. Smith, who for 10 years served as the musical director on “Saturday Night Live,” will return to Bay Street

Jun. 18, 2015

Christopher Walsh

Over the last several months, the guitarist G.E. Smith has brought a number of unique performances to Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. In October, he, Jim Weider, and Larry Campbell presented “Masters of the Telecaster,” an ensemble performance in which each played his favored electric guitar, the Fender Telecaster. In April, he and the Israeli musician David Broza performed there together.

On Saturday night at 8, Mr. Smith, who for 10 years served as the musical director on “Saturday Night Live,” will return to Bay Street, this time bringing together members of that long-running late-night show’s band. Joining the guitarist will be Leon Pendarvis, a keyboardist who has been in the “SNL” band since 1980; the drummer Shawn Pelton; Christine Ohlman, known as the Beehive Queen and the “SNL” band’s lead vocalist since 1991, and the bassist Fred Cash Jr., who is the son of Fred Cash of the Impressions.

The connections run deep among these musicians. “I’m excited about it,” Mr. Smith, who lives in Amagansett, said on Friday. “The guys coming to play and sing are just great, and are some of my favorite people.” Mr. Pendarvis, he said, is “absolutely one of the best musicians I’ve ever worked with, and one of the best people, too.”

On June 9, Mr. Smith and Mr. Pelton performed together at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York in a concert commemorating the 100th birthday of Les Paul, the late guitarist who is also renowned for his pioneering work with multitrack recording. “Shawn is fantastic,” Mr. Smith said, and deftly handled complex music by the guitarists Steve Vai and Joe Satriani at the concert honoring Mr. Paul.

Mr. Smith began performing with Ms. Ohlman in the early 1970s in the Scratch Band, a hard-working outfit that was well known throughout the Northeast. “We played all over New England — some years, we played 200, 225 shows, just in those four or five states,” he said. “Christine is a great singer and has worked with lots and lots of people. She’s really powerful.”

Mr. Cash, who was also onstage in the concert honoring Mr. Paul, performed with Mr. Smith and Chad Smith, a drummer, on New Year’s Eve at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett.

The setlist was still being assembled, Mr. Smith said last week, with the group planning a rehearsal on Monday in New York. “We’re doing a lot of R&B, bluesy stuff,” he said. “Guitar music. I’m just an old bar-band guy, so I know a lot of songs. The great thing for me is, these guys can play anything.”

Tickets for “G.E. Smith and SNL Band Members” are $59, $69, and $79 and are available at baystreet.org or by calling the box office.