TAKE 5: PARTY LINES; `TRIBUTE TO ELLA FITZGERALD' A TIME TO BE BOWLED OVER.Byline: Barbara De Witt Partying under the stars at the Hollywood Bowl is always a treat, but the Bowl's fund-raiser tribute to the late Ella Fitzgerald was awesome. That first lady of song was there - via vintage film clips - on a big screen on top of the Bowl, while her friends and fans sang her favorite songs and did major scattin' while sipping Moet & Chandon champagne from ``Ella'' souvenir glasses. About 1,000 people attended the ``inner circle'' gala, where guests dined with white linens, red roses and dinner prepared by Joachim Splichal of Patina and Pinot restaurants. The elegant menu, by the way, included roasted Chilean sea bass, rack of lamb Noun 1. rack of lamb - a roast of the rib section of lamb crown roast rack - rib section of a forequarter of veal or pork or especially lamb or mutton lamb roast, roast lamb - a cut of lamb suitable for roasting , mustard-coated dungeness crab and panne panne n. A special finish for velvet and satin that produces a high luster. [French, a soft cloth, from Old French penne, pane, fur lining, from Latin pinna, penna, cotta cot·ta n. pl. cot·tae or cot·tas A short surplice. [Medieval Latin, of Germanic origin.] with red berries and strawberry marmalade sauce. Guests paid up to $1,000 for a four-person box, which earned $300,000 for the Bowl Fund and its community programs while giving jazz fans a night to remember. Also contributing to the Bowl Fund were about 13,000 folks in the bleachers In The Bleachers is a podcast and website that focuses on Division I-A college football. It is recorded and aired weekly during college football season and features college football experts from the Big Ten, Big East, SEC, ACC, Pac 10, and Big 12 conferences. who brought their own picnic dinners. The evening kicked off with music by the Count Basie Orchestra The Count Basie Orchestra was usually a big band of at least sixteen pieces. Sometimes, as in 1950, it shrank to an eight-piece orchestra. The orchestra, founded by William "Count" Basie, was really a series of bands that had many members come and go over a span of many years, from , followed by singer-guitarist John Pizarelli who scatted to ``Stompin' at the Savoy,'' a Harlem ballroom tune immortalized by Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, and Nicole Yarling's version of ``Blame It on My Youth'' and ``Dig.'' Then John and Donald Mills of the Mills Brothers sang ``Up a Lazy River.'' It was a sentimental duet by the last working Mills Brother (Donald) and his son that had the audience members wiping their eyes before jumping up for a standing ovation. What a night. Dianne Reeves got screams and whistles for her rendition of ``Mack the Knife,'' Vic Damone proved he's still a crooner extraordinaire ex·tra·or·di·naire adj. Extraordinary: a jazz singer extraordinaire. [French, from Old French, from Latin extra , and Joe Williams suited up in a white tuxedo to sing the song he sang to Ella so many years ago, ``You Showed Me the Way.'' Melissa Manchester (finally, someone from my generation) talked about hearing Ella for the first time when she was 5 and later getting to make a Memorex commercial with her. Wearing a drop-dead-gorgeous black velvet gown that showed plenty of cleavage, she caused a hush over the audience with ``Someone to Watch Over Me Someone to Watch over Me may refer to: In television:
There were plenty of stars in the audience as well. Bob Hope and his wife, Dolores Dolores (or Delores) was a common given name (until the 1960s in the USA); it is cognate with the English word "dolorous" (meaning sorrowful) and equivalent in meaning. , told me they always liked ``A-Tisket, A-Tasket,'' which also was the fave fave Informal n. One that is preferred above others or likely to win; a favorite. adj. Favorite. [Short for favorite.] of Dennis Kent of Studio City, who's the treasurer of the board of the L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra. Actor Michael Laskin of Studio City said he loved the duets Ella did with Louis Armstrong the best, and funny lady Phyllis Diller, who was having a girl's night out, said she couldn't decide on a favorite but was fond of ``Spring Can Really Hang You Up.'' Also there were ``The Nanny'' star Fran Drescher, Steven Weber of ``Wings,'' Leila Kenzle of ``Mad About You'' and Grant Shaud, formerly of ``Murphy Brown.'' Sharon Stone bought a box, and everybody was hoping for a glimpse of her, but I guess she gave her tickets to friends. ... Other guests included the Philharmonic's CFO See Chief Financial Officer. Gene Pasquerelli, who breathlessly arrived from the airport, saying he'd just gotten back from his son's wedding in Maine. Ginny Mancini, whose husband, Henry, was honored at last year's big Bowl fund-raiser, was there, too. She's a regular at most music-oriented benefits. Honorary dinner chairs for the evening were Natalie Cole and Quincy Jones. Sponsors were Countrywide Home Loans and Lexus. More than 600 people hugged, laughed and reminisced over lunch at the 14th annual Black Women of Achievement luncheon held June 20 at the Omni Hotel. The organization, which raised $100,000 for the NAACP NAACP in full National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Oldest and largest U.S. civil rights organization. It was founded in 1909 to secure political, educational, social, and economic equality for African Americans; W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Legal Defense and Education Fund, honored Della Reese, co-star of ``Touched by an Angel''; Jo Marie Payton-Noble of ``Family Matters''; and Rhonda Windham, general manager of the new L.A. Sparks women's basketball team. Other honorees were artist and entrepreneur Synthia Saint James and John Mack, president of the Los Angles Urban League. Beverly Whitaker organized the event that was sponsored by Occidental Petroleum Corp., AT&T, Avon, Bank of America
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC TYO: 8648 ) is the largest commercial bank in the United States in terms of deposits, and the largest company of its kind in the world. , the Department of Water and Power and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The Southern California Council of the National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C. is the only museum solely dedicated to celebrating women’s achievements in the visual, performing, and literary arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. welcomed new members and introduced a new slate of officers that includes co-presidents Alexis Deutch and Genevieve McSweeney, and membership chairwomen Ava Fries and Nancy Mishkin at a lavish tea party held June 25 at Mishkin's Bel-Air home. The group, which supports the National Museum and encourages the development of local women artists by sponsoring exhibitions of merit, had tapestry weaver Margaret Handwerker as its guest of honor. For more information on the organization, call Babe Eagle at (310) 472-9704. CAPTION(S): 4 Photos Photo: (1) Studio City actor Michael Laskin and his wife, Emily, director of development for the Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LAP) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Founded in 1919 by William Andrews Clark, Jr. , mugged for the camera at the Hollywood Bowl's ``A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.'' (2) Phyllis Diller made the Ella tribute a girls' night out, bringing several friends to the Bowl concert. (3) Dolores and Bob Hope were among the stars at the Hollywood Bowl Ella-fest. Robert Millard/Special to the Daily News (4) Honorees Jo Marie Payton-Noble and Della Reese share a hug at the Black Women of Achievement luncheon. Michael Riddick |
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