BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Rock singers Elvis Costello, Deborah Harry and 16 other musicians and actors will join jazz saxophonist Roy Nathanson in a special performance of his CD Fire at Keaton's Bar & Grill at St. Ann's Church on May 5–6.

Shows are at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday. The 8 p.m. Friday show will be broadcast live on WNYC-FM (93.9) and AM (820).

The performances at St. Ann's will adapt the album, a character-driven song cycle centered on a fictional Southern dive that was the gathering place for a number of colorful characters.

Costello plays raconteur for the multimedia event, which will feature live and prepared video images throughout the performance. One tune Costello sings is "Fire Suite 1" (RealAudio excerpt).

The Gothic church of St. Ann's, a National Historic Landmark, should provide a suitable space for Fire at Keaton's, a piece grounded in mystery and ambiguity. Sharply drawn characters such as Cups, the bartender sang by Harry, serve up strains of barroom philosophizing. Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs flits in and out of the scene as the would-be arsonist.

If the fire's origin is evasive, the matter of what was lost in the blaze, and by whom, seems even more unclear. Nathanson's music is similarly elusive in its slippery stylistics, shifting among tango, ballads and jazz-funk.

The musicians providing the bar's live jukebox for the weekend's shows include many of the CD's performers. Vibist Bill Ware, pianist Deidre Rodman, organist Rueben Wilson, bassist Brad Jones and drummers J.T. Lewis and E.J. Rodriguez will comprise the rhythm section. Horn players include Sam Furnace on baritone, Marty Ehrlich on alto, Jay Rodriguez on tenor, Nathanson on alto, Curtis Fowlkes on trombone and Russ Johnson on trumpet.

Harry and Costello have contributed to past recordings by the Jazz Passengers, the avant-bop band Nathanson founded in 1987 with fellow Lounge Lizard Fowlkes.

Costello and Nathanson will appear on NBC-TV's "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" on Friday night.