Going out

Fleck fusion: Versatile banjo master Bela Fleck and composer-bassist-pianist Edgar Meyer are at Miami University for an inventive evening of contemporary bluegrass and classical sounds, 7:30 p.m. today, Hall Auditorium, Oxford. $9-$23. 562-4949.

Irish culture: The Cincinnati chapter of the Irish American Cultural Institute hosts Trinity College professor Patrick Geoghegan for a presentation on the 19th-century Irish patriot Robert Emmet and his role in Ireland's development, 7 p.m. today, Science Lecture Hall, Thomas More College, Crestview Hills. $4-$7. (859) 344-3337.

Book signing: Author Steven Carter is at Joseph-Beth Booksellers to sign and discuss his much-talked-about new book, I Was Howard Hughes, a fictional portrait of a biographer and his larger-than-life subjects, 7 p.m. today, Rookwood Pavilion, Madison and Edwards roads, Norwood. 396-8960.

Tracy Grammer: The celebrated singer-songwriter plays the intimate Emerald Ballroom at Jack Quinn's Irish Pub and Restaurant, 8 p.m. today, 112 E. Fourth St., Covington. $15 at door. (859) 491-6699.

20/20 Arts Fest

The second day of the 20-day arts festival presented by Enjoy the Arts features a colorful and imaginative evening of jazz and live painting, 8-11 p.m. today at York Street Cafe, Eighth and York, Newport. The upstairs performance space at this funky, historic pharmacy-cum-bar/restaurant fills with the sounds of the Pavilion Music Company Big Band while top talents from the Art Academy of Cincinnati brush canvases with bold and bright jazz-infused designs. $3. (859) 261-9675.

New on DVD

• A big release this week is a five-disc box set of the epic 1980 TV miniseries Shogun starring Richard Chamberlain as a 17th-century English trader immersed in the ways of the samurai. Another big release is a DVD treatment of The Phantom of the Opera, transferred from a print of the 1929 reissue and complemented with material from the UCLA archives.

• Other releases include the Disney favorite Holes (PG) starring Shia LeBeouf, Jon Voight and Sigourney Weaver, Daddy Day Care (PG) with Eddie Murphy, The Dancer Upstairs (R), John Malkovich's first feature film starring Javier Bardem and Abel Folk, and A Mighty Wind (PG-13), the '60s folk extravaganza from Christopher Guest, the director of Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman.

Planning ahead

24 hours out: The three-day Valley Vineyards Wine Festival offers several varieties of wines, grape stomping, cheeses, live music and even free camping on site, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2276 E. U.S. 22, Morrow. (513) 899-2485.

48 hours out: There's interactive murder mystery dinner theater at the Manchester Inn in the form of the production Go West! Suspense at the Sarsaparilla Saloon, 7 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 1027 Manchester Ave., Middletown. $24.95 includes buffet dinner (cash bar starts 6:30 p.m.). (513) 423-2877.

72 hours till Saturday: The Cincinnati Celtic Music and Cultural Festival takes over Coney Island with some of Ireland's hottest musical acts, dance demonstrations, artisans, exhibits, storytellers, traditional foods and more, noon-9 p.m. Saturday, noon-7 p.m. Sunday, I-275 and Kellogg Avenue, Anderson Township. $8, $2 age 5-12. 533-4822.

E-mail: jnebel@enquirer.com; fax: 768-8330