The Brooklyn Papers / Tom Callan

Cover me: Ellsworth and Hicks (aka Phil Hicks and George Tocci) will perform "stolen music" July 12 at the Liberty Heights Tap Room.

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Once again the sun is setting to live music along the Red Hook waterfront.

Jazz, blues, folk, swing and rock music have returned, after a year’s hiatus, with the 10th annual Sunset Music Series. This year, however, the Sunset series will include two Sunday family shows aboard the showboat barge and two Saturday evening concerts at the nearby Liberty Heights Tap Room.

George Tocci, who co-produces the series with barge captain David Sharps, said the change from exclusively Saturday night shows aboard the historic Lehigh Valley barge was necessitated by certain problems with its new location at the Columbia Street Marine Terminal, principally the lack of lighting and outdoor space. On the plus side, Liberty Heights Tap Room serves its own Park Slope Brewery beer.

The series kicks off on July 12 at the Tap Room with guitarist Steve Oates at 8 pm; Ellsworth and Hicks (a.k.a. George Tocci and Phil Hicks), playing what Tocci calls "original and stolen music" at 9 pm, and the Brooklyn Jugs with their turn-of-the-century, fast-tempo, foot-stomping music at 10 pm.

The next day, Allison DeSalvo and Kenny & the Eggplants take over the barge’s stage at 3 pm and 4 pm, respectively.

DeSalvo, a Park Sloper who teaches at the Grace Church preschool in Brooklyn Heights, will perform what she calls "fairly eclectic music" for 2- to 10-year-olds, backed by guitarist Bill Newman and percussionist Todd Isler. She sings original, traditional and international songs.

DeSalvo, whose CD is titled "Happiness Is All Around You" (www.worldofsong.com), believes it’s important to express through music that "the world is a wonderful place for children to enter into and express themselves."

"I get the audience to sing and dance along," she told GO Brooklyn. "When I perform, I bring all my energy to capturing their imagination There’s an element of storytelling and painting a picture."

Kenny & the Eggplants is a 10-year-old group made up of Ed Logue on hand percussion and electric drum pads; Midwood resident Gil Schuster, who plays bass guitar and says he "bangs on things occasionally and screams,"; and band founder Kenny Young, of Brooklyn Heights, who writes the songs, sings and plays acoustic guitar.

"We sing quirky pop songs that both adults and kids like," says Schuster. "They’re funny and surreal, but they also rock."

Young’s songs are about animals, food and life under water.

"There’s a badger who plays badminton and a spacefrog who has super powers and a pizza pie that meets Emile Zola in a glass of Coca-Cola," says Schuster. "Our show is like Bugs Bunny. Kids can enjoy it, but adults get subtle references."

On July 19, The Leals take the mic at 8 pm, followed by Chris & Meredith Thompson at 9 pm and The Jimmy Nations tar-heel boogie band at 10 pm.

Shelly and Jon Leals, who live in Brighton Beach and work for the city Department of Education, have been playing guitar together and singing harmony for five years.

"We’re open and eclectic," says Shelly. "We sing everything from Irish tunes to blues, jazz and folk."

While Jon leans toward ballads, Shelly writes "more bluesy folk tunes about life and love."

The Leals have played in several Brooklyn venues including the Tap Room.

Chris and Meredith Thompson are identical twins who play and record together. (They have five self-produced CDs.)

"We’ve been performing together for 11 years, but we’ve known each other for 29," says Meredith. "We always loved singing together. During high school we started to get more serious about it. My sister started playing the guitar, and I always liked writing poetry. So we decided to team up. I’d write the words, and she’d come up with the music."

Meredith plays the flute and sings, and Chris plays guitar and sings.

"Coming to our shows is interesting because sometimes when we sing the same note you can’t tell who’s singing," says Meredith.

In addition to the two Thompsons, Meredith says you might also hear a bit of Simon and Garfunkel; Crosby, Stills & Nash; and Woodie Guthrie in their music.

July 20 brings one of the first bands to perform on the showboat barge - The Amazing Incredible - back to Red Hook. Ed Fogarty leads this band, which performs a blend of swing, country and rock ’n’ roll. The Amazing Incredible will be followed by Ilene Weiss singing original songs for adults and children.

The Sunset Music Series takes place July 12 and July 19 at 8 pm at the Liberty Heights Tap Room, located at 36 Van Dyke St. at Dwight Street. On July 13 and July 20 at 3 pm, concerts take place on the Waterfront Museum Showboat Barge, docked at the Columbia Street Marine Terminal at 699 Columbia St. Suggested donation is $5.

A free shuttle bus operates from the neighborhoods of Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights and Carroll Gardens for all performances. Directions, maps, show and shuttle information are available by calling (718) 624-4719 or by visiting www.waterfrontmuseum.org or the Sunset Music Series Web site at www.geocities.com/sunsetmuse.

©2003 The Brooklyn Paper