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We
were up at the fabled Apollo theatre on 125th Street where Jazz
at Lincoln
Center was holding its third annual gala concert
and dinner, “Teach
Me Tonight."
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Wynton
Marsalis, Al Roker, and Spike Lee
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Cedric
the Entertainer was host with performances by Bob
Dylan, Al Jarreau, Branford Marsalis, Renee Olstead, James Taylor and
the Wynton Marsalis Septet. There must have been more than a thousand
guests filling the legendary theater, and afterwards 700 of them
moved to the tents behind the theatre for an Asian dinner provided
by Taste Caterers.
Gala co-chairs were Ashley Schiff and Vicki
Fuller. Kimberley Hatchett was Dinner Chair. Corporate co-chairs were Michael
Colacino of
Studley Commercial Real Estate Advisors and Lewis Jones of JP Morgan
Chase. Paul Healy and Vicki Cohen were Gala Journal Co-chairs.
Ahmet and Mica Ertegun were Honorary Chairs. And lead corporate
sponsors were JPMorganChase, Studley with Cadillac as participating
corporate sponsor. |
Bob
Dylan with the Wynton
Marsalis Septet |
Ashley
Schiff made me aware of Jazz at Lincoln Center a few years ago.
This is her baby and she’s just a few years older than
a baby herself (to me anyway). Her parents, Lisa and
David Schiff are great music aficionados, with Lisa Schiff an accomplished
pianist as well as chairman of the board of directors of J@LC.
Like mother like daughter. When Ashley joined up a few years
ago, they didn’t have a corporate sponsor, an event or
even a direction. They just needed a lot of money – millions
in fact – to build the new J@LC facility at the new Time Warner
building on Columbus Circle. Many many millions of dollars later,
their theater with a wall of glass overlooking the Circle and
Central Park, the first concert hall built specifically for jazz,
will have its gala opening this coming October under the artistic
directorship of the great Wynton Marsalis. It’s an amazing
feat, much of which was accomplished by this hardworking, unassuming,
casually focused jazz fan – Ashley.
Bob Dylan in a jazz concert on the stage of the Apollo? Scruffy-looking as ever,
accompanied by his harmonica and the Marsalis Septet, he sang a jazz version
of “Don’t Think Twice (it’s all right)” and jazz it was.
And Dylan it was too. Same with James Taylor who sang a couple of his own compositions. |
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Al
Jarreau
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Branford
Marsalis
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David
and Lisa Schiff
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Peter
and Allison Rockefeller
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Barbara
Carroll and friend
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Jimmy
Finkelstein, Pamela Gross, and George Farias
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Deborah
Roberts and Al Roker
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Jones
York and Betsy Bartlett
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Somers
Farkas and DPC
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Ed
Koch and Diane Coffey with a friend
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Kathryn
and James Taylor
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Ashley
Schiff and Dana Schiff
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Ahmet
Ertegun with his granddaughter
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Albert
Murray
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Jim
Zirin and Marlene Hess
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Dana
and Scott Schiff
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Ed
Bradley and Spencer Means
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Cedric
the Entertainer and friend
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Courtney
Vance
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Gordon
Davis
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Dayssi
Olarte de Kanavos
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Last
Wednesday night, The Central Park Conservancy held its ninth
annual "Taste of Summer" benefit
at Bethesda Terrace. Created in 1980, the Conservancy now provides
80 percent
of the park's funding, the success of it largely dependent on
philanthropy.
Co-Chairs Susan Shin, Blair Husain and Coralie Charriol,
along with Vice-Chairs Vanessa von Bismarck, Lisa Airan, Lisa Anastos,
Marie Douglas-David, Santiago Gonzalez, Tinsley Mortimer, Tim Zagat,
Antony Todd and Eric Villency combined forces to bring out over
800 guests - raising $400,000 to help ensure that Manhattan's favorite
recreation spot will continue to be maintained for generations
to come.
Held in the
shadow of Bethesda Fountain - whose angel has been purifying the
city’s water supply since the Croton Aqueduct
opened in 1842 - the party had a magic all its own. Eclectic offerings
from restaurants such as Orsay, Spice Market, Industry (Food),
Jean George, SushiSamba, TriBeCa Grill, The Mandarin Oriental,
Fred’s at Barneys, Dylan’s Candy Bar, Moby’s
new line of teas, and a consistently perfect bar, kept the crowd
in a heavenly mood from start to finish. |
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Salsa lessons |
For
those on a diet, Salsa lessons were provided as a contingency
for the evening's inevitable overindulgence.
For those wishing to expand their horizons, a silent auction offered a unique
assortment of items ranging from the basic necessities, such as Faraone Mennella
Earrings (worn by the girls of Sex and the City), a suede park bench
designed by Liza Minnelli, Potocki Wódka and watches
by
Charriol ... to the theatrical, such as walk-on roles in Chicago the
musical and various soap operas, custom-made suits by Duca and Satori, skin products
from L’Occitane and a cameo on the Bob Vila show ... to
the downright adventurous including a stay at the Amansala Bikini Boot Camp,
Continental Airline tickets, lunch with Scott Bailey, deluxe
accomodations from Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and a private in-home chef
tasting with Jean George.
Among the glamorous attendees: Vanessa von Bismarck, Susan Shin, Karen
LeFrak, Joseph and Victoria Sutton, Mona Wyatt, Coralie Charriol and Dennis Paul,
Lottie Oakley, Marie Douglas-David, Carrie Cloud, Roy Teeluck, Daniel Barth,
Maya Stendahl, Tinsley Mortimer, Lisa Airan, Lisa Anastos, Alvin Valley, Fabian
Basabe, Jennifer Pucci, Heather Garrett, Candace Champagne, Connie Chung, Maury
Povich, Alvin Valley, Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, Mauro Maccioni, Kit Paquin,
Annalise
Petersen,
Lara Meiland, Richard Johnson and Sessa von Richthofen, Francesca
Gentili, and Nicole Mallement.
— Chris Prendergast for NYSD |
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Joseph
and Victoria Sutton
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Mark
Berger, Lottie Oakley, and Billy Perretti
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Fabian
Basabe and Tinsley Mortimer
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Karen
LeFrak
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Valerie Demugio and Lisa Airan (event Co-Chair)
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Maury
Povich and Connie Chung
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Peter
Thomas, Celia Rogge, and Cecilia Hirschorn
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Dylan Lauren
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Event
Co-Chairs Marie Douglas David, Corralie Charriol, Susan
Shin, and Lisa Anastos
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L.
to r.: Richard Johnson and Sessa von Richthofen;
Karen Paquin and Scott Bailey; Annalise
Petersen
and Lara Meiland.
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Norman
Selby and Kenny Heitner
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A
Taste of Summer at Orsay
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Sam
Bolton, Todd Romano, Liza Pulitzer, and Mark
Gilbertson
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Eric
Javits and Andrea Donahue
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Amy
Hoadley and Nina Reese
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Kristina
Stewart and Amy Fine Collins
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Frances
Schultz
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Heather
Cohane
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Rick
and Sara Kearns
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R.
Couri Hay
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Rachel
Hovnanian, Mark Gilbertson, and Liza Pulitzer
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L.
to r.: Hilary Dick; Mia Matheson, Jill Roosevelt,
and Andrea Van Buren; Amy Fine Collins and Robert Burke.
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L.
to r.: Alexis Waller, Richard Perry, and Susan Bodnar;
Diana Oswald, Todd Romano, Suki Bolton, and Mia Matheson.
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