Outside the Jazz Rose Theatre at Lincoln Center on Wednesday night, hundreds of people wore sparkling gowns and velvet tuxedos, waiting for the program to begin. They drank popcorn and cocktails from gold pinstriped bags in front of a wall lined with giant black and white photographs of jazz pianist and composer Duke Ellington.
“I love coming here,” said Alec Baldwin, who posed with his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, on the jazz red carpet, which celebrated Ellington's 125th birthday at the Ellington Center's annual fundraising gala.
The couple, who married in 2012, has appeared on the TLC reality TV show The Baldwins. Filmed as Baldwin faces trial on involuntary manslaughter charges, it focuses on busy family life with seven children under the age of 11 and eight pets. The judge dismissed the case in July.
“The kids aren't necessarily interested in the music I appreciate,” said Baldwin, 67, who wore a navy suit and a Burgundy button-down. “I like a lot of classics, I also love Japanese jazz.” (Baldwin, 41, a fitness expert and podcast host, said she played a lot of Billy Eilish.)
Another jazz fan in the crowd was “Sopranos” star Michael Imperioli, who played smooth Hollywood producer Domudi Grasso in the second season of “The White Lotus.”
He hasn't seen a new season yet, he said, but he's planning soon.
“I'm going to sit down and see everything in two days or something,” he said. “I've been digging into British detective shows.”
Baldwin and Imperioli were a mess of celebrities from the world of film, music and media, including journalist Joy Reed and Ellington's granddaughter Mercedes Ellington. The evening, hosted by actor and comedian Dave Chapelle, honored philanthropist Huda Alkamis Canoe and jazz pianist and composer Tosiko Akiyoshi.
At about 6:45pm attendees began to concentrate on the theatre. In front of the stage there were two rows of table seats topped with bags of popcorn and bottles of wine. Baldwin shared a table with Chloe Breyer, executive director of New York's Interfaith Center, and Greg Shol, executive director of jazz at Lincoln Center.
As he waited for the concert to begin, Baldwin drank red wine, as he packed a bag of popcorn and wrapped his phone around as he featured jazz at Winton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Orchestra.
At about 7:15pm, Chapel took the stage.
“Man, you didn't expect you to see me at an event like this, right?” said famous Firebrand comedian Chappelle.
“Don't worry, there are no bad words,” he joked. “To help here.”
He then shared a lesser-known part of the biographies. Before he was in the stand-up comedy scene, he attended Duque Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C., a public high school focused on art education.
“The school has changed my life deeply, deeply, deeply,” said Chapelle, an amateur jazz pianist. “Duke Ellington was a man who traveled the world based on his talent, and as a child, he knew that it was possible just because his energy was in the air.”
He was primarily obsessed with teleprompters, but Mr Chapelle threw some ad-libbs. (“We can't have one of the world's greatest comedians read Teleprompter,” he said.
He targeted President Trump.
“It's up to us. We have to keep this tradition alive. This is one of the best things we've done in America,” he said. “Do you know what Trump did at the Kennedy Center? You're next. Ah, no!”
Around 9:15pm, members of the orchestra led a second line of lines meandering through the atrium as dozens of trumpeters, drummers and saxophonists performed “When the Saints Marc.” Hundreds of dinner guests were then tucked into plates of roasted blangino and chatted at the table overlooking the Columbus Circle.
Around 10pm, they began filtering through hallways lined with metallic gold curtains into Dizzy's Club.
They danced until midnight and Norman Edwards Jr.'s excitement band played swing standards such as “Take the “A” train,” and Manhattan light glittered behind them.
“It's encouraging to see so many different generations here,” Ellington said. “Music is the only thing that really keeps us going. We need it more than ever.”
