THE MUSIC OF CLIVE COMES ALIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL
The stars were out at Carnegie Hall Monday night (4/29) for the New York Pops' gala, "The Soundtrack of Our Lives: A Tribute to the Legendary Clive Davis," which traced the chronological arc of the mogul's iconic career with performances by Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, Busta Rhymes, Melissa Manchester, Barry Manilow, John Mellencamp, Rob Thomas, Carlos Santana and Dionne Warwick.
Among the highlights: Art Garfunkel tackling "Bridge Over Troubled Water" backed by his son Art Garfunkel Jr., Warwick giving us all the feels with "I'll Never Love This Way Again" and "That's What Friends Are For," Thomas and Santana re-teaming for their 1999 smash "Smooth" and Patty Smyth covering the Bruce Springsteen-penned "Because the Night," popularized by the similarly named Patti Smith.
The Pops were conducted by Steven Reineke, who previously told us they "really wanted to touch on all the genres of music that Clive has had his hand in—pop, rock ’n’ roll, jazz, hip-hop," continuing, "Every one of these artists is obviously worthy to do their own show and most of these people are worthy to be a music honoree in and of themselves. We're asking them to come onstage and sing one song for Clive and then make room for the next artist, which is a pretty high-class problem to have.”
The indefatigable Davis, who turned 92 on 4/4, also hosted a celebratory dinner for friends and family the night before at Brooklyn's River Cafe and kept the party going post-Carnegie Hall with a gathering at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Below, behold a few snaps from the occasion, courtesy of photographer Larry Busacca, and head here for excerpts from our recent one-on-one with Clive himself.
Carlos Santana might be getting Woodstock flashbacks from Clive's shiny jacket.
May we all look as vibrant at 83 as Dionne Warwick did last night.
Actually, HITS is about to turn 38 and isn't nearly so well preserved, but that's another story.
Davis and Pops director Steven Reineke, right before they passed the Courvoisier.
