D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A charmed her and educated both her mind and palate, all while sharing the experience of the chaotic end of the war in China and the beginnings of the Communist revolution. Moving on to the parties and all that jazz. My friend Ashley Schiff-Ramos has been a big supporter of Jazz at Lincoln Center for years now. She married Mike Ramos a few years ago, however, and moved to Palm Beach and started a family. I thought that was it for Ashley and Lincoln Center. However, a couple of months ago, she was back on the scene (briefly) organizing the annual gala benefit that took place on a recent Thursday night at Jazz at Lincoln Center. “Marsalis and Clapton Play the Blues: Rose Theater” read the 7 p.m. ticket. The program said specifically there would be no playing of “Layla.” I
believed, nonetheless. In his opening remarks, Clapton looked kind of distinguished, like a maestro, in his gray suit and tie, and his full head of (long) grayish hair. He just celebrated his sixty-sixth. He told us how, although he’d played with a few jazz musicians before, he’d never really done what he’d always dreamed of as a kid. Well, all I can say is that we were lucky to be there. Each song, from “Taj Mahal” to “Layla” to “Corrina Corrina,” came via New Orleans and the great American musical heritage that belongs to all of us. Some of us were almost ready to jump up out of our seats and dance. The evening, it turned out, was the result of six years of Ashley getting everyone together and agreeing. She saw Marsalis and Clapton play together at a benefit many
years ago and all she could think from that moment on was, this would be a dynamite benefit. As indeed it was. More than eight hundred guests attended, and they raised more then $3.6 million. Thank you, Ashley, mother of us all now. Among the guests: Jazz at Lincoln Center Leadership board chairman Lisa Schiff with David Schiff, executive director Adrian Ellis, and artistic director Wynton Marsalis. The underwriters for the gala evening were Jody and John Arnhold, Lisa and Dick Cashin, Diana and Joe DiMenna, and Dr. Agnes Varis. Also in attendance: John Legend, Gayle King, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Shahara Ahmad-Llewellyn, Gail and Al Engelberg, Mica Ertegun, Mercedes and Sid Bass, Linda Wachner, George Wein, Fiona and
Stan Druckenmiller, Eliza and Alex Bolen, Lloyd and Laura Blankfein, Katherine Farley and Jerry Speyer, Faye Wattleton, Gail and Al Engelberg, Marlene Hess and Jim Zirin, Ed and Carolyn Lewis, Wendy and Steve Madden, Michael Vlock and Karen Pritzker, Mike Ramos, Louise and Leonard Riggio, Diana and Jonathan F.P. Rose, Jack and Susan Rudin, Roy J. Zuckerberg, and many more just like ‘em. On another busy night in New York: Over at Carnegie Hall they celebrated its 120th anniversary with a gala concert led by James Taylor, with Barbara Cook, Bette Midler, Steve Martin, Sting, Dianne Reeves, Kevin Pollak, and an all-star audience. The same night, over at 583 Park, the Horticultural Society of New York held its New York Flower Show Dinner Dance
a l v i n v a l l e y a nd f a b i o l a b e r a c a s a h o st e d “ h e l p b y d e s i g n ” a t p a r a m o u nt b a r
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Fabiola Beracasa 28 QUEST
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