From the newswire…

• Paul Simon will be performing at the American Civil Liberties Union’s Freedom Concert in New York City at Carnegie Hall on October 4th. Sharing the bill with Paul are, among others, Lou Reed, Edie Brickell, Sarah Jones, Philip Glass and Mos Def. For tickets, call (212) 721-6500.

• Paul recently performed a short, surprise set at, as the New York Post’s Hamptons Diary carefully reported in its August 31st edition:

  
  

  SINGER Paul Simon appeared as the special guest Sun day at an impromptu Amagansett charity concert for local chef Sean Rafferty, who was diagnosed with a bladder tumor two weeks ago.

  Simon joined two local bands, Little Head Thinks and The Nancy Atlas Project, at the Stephen Talkhouse, wearing a Yale baseball cap, black T-shirt and jeans. He said he was there to help out a “friend of the family,” while confiding to staffers he wanted to give back to the East End community, which has treated him so well.

  For a suggested donation of $25, hundreds of guests packed the bar in support of Rafferty and wound up hearing an acoustic quartet of Simon classics: “Homeward Bound”, “America,” “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” and “The Boxer.”

  The enthusiastic crowd caught Simon off guard when they began singing in unison the “lie-la-lie” chorus of “The Boxer,” his last song of the evening.

  The singer grinned and then pointed to the bartenders and declared, “Literally, everyone can have a beer on me.”

  Before wrapping up his act, Simon looked at the audience and quipped, “I have to figure out how to pay for the beers now.”

  He walked off stage and immediately offered up his credit card.

  Simon showed up at the request of Sean’s older brother, Ron Rafferty, who was the former caretaker of Simon’s Montauk estate and is now leading the charge to help his sibling, who’s already facing bills of $20,000 and has no medical coverage.

  When the concert finished, Sean, 37, a chef at Nichol’s, summed up the evening: “It was really wonderful - I have a lot more friends than I realized.”

  As Simon was leaving the building, Sean’s wife, Kathryn, rushed out to thank him for playing at the event, which raised about $10,000 through donations and the evening’s bar profits, which the Talkhouse gave to the cause.

  The good-hearted Simon replied, “Your husband’s going to be fine . . . When he’s fine, I’ll come sing again.”

  Donations for Sean can be made by calling him at (631) 267-7619.

• The Post also reported on Paul’s son Harper doing his best Art Garfunkel impression - we’ll leave it at that.

• Finally, Edie, also known as Paul’s better half, also performed recently, as reported, again, by the Post here:

  
  

  RECLUSIVE Edie Brickell charmed a packed room at the Guild Hall Saturday night after being asked to join a double-bill lineup by her pal, former “Saturday Night Live” bandleader G.E. Smith.

  But the ever-modest songstress, who was performing for the first time since ending a tour in April, told the crowd she’d had anxiety dreams about the show, and later admitted to Diary she feared she was a little rusty.

  “I was feeling anxious. It was a while since I’ve played. But then, when I got onstage, I thought to myself: When I’m 90, I won’t be able to do this, so I’m just going to enjoy myself,” said Brickell.

  She confessed she’d even banned hubby Paul Simon from attending because of her nerves. They’re spending a few days in their Montauk home, and Simon’s distinct 12-string guitar was onstage during Brickell’s set, leading eagle-eyed fans to believe he might join her for a song, as he has in past gigs.

  “I asked him not to come. I didn’t have a great sense of confidence,” said Brickell, who was nevertheless all smiles backstage after the sold-out gig.

  “Get out!” he screamed. “Get out of my theater! I’ve got a million dollars worth of art in here. What the hell are you doing?”

  In a very unrock-’n'-roll moment, the gentle musician, her bemused band and the cigarette-holding culprit all stood looking horrified as the stage manager continued to scream at them before everyone shuffled out.

  Brickell headed home soon after, but Diary can report she got some A-list praise from Richard Gere, who sneaked in to watch the show because he’s a good pal of Smith’s wife, Taylor Barton.

  “She was great, absolutely great,” said the mellow movie star.