#moetchando

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Brooks Brothers Celebrates 200 Year Anniversary by j- No Via Flickr: Jazz at Lincoln Center Frederick P. Rose Hall Time Warner Center Columbus Circle, Manhattan NYC April 25, 2018

Last Thursday, Jazz at Lincoln Center honored Brooks Brothers’s 200 years of iconic crisp white shirts with a black tie party and star-studded concert and both a pre- and post- cocktail  hour, followed by an after-party at Dizzy' club.  Brooks Brothers is a long-time supporter of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

The red carpet was worn out by the parade of A-list celeb actors, musicians, athletes, models, and philanthropists.  And hundreds of socialites and VIPs turned out to help cut the cake (literally), sip the endless river of cocktails, and snack on pizza, bruchetta, pretzels, hot dogs, potato latkes, ice cream, and a smorgasborg  of passed hors d'oeuves, while DJ Marjorie Gubelman spinned classic disco and some contemporary dance mixes.

Before the main event, JLC's director Wynton Marsalis presented BB's CEO Claudio Del Vecchio with the gift of a trumpet (free lessons included?).  Claudio and Wynton then turned their backs to the audience to take a selfie.  Del Vecchio then recalled highlights from the brand's history and thanked everyone for their loyalty for two centuries, perhaps the longest surviving clothier in the world.

The concert, held in the Rose Theater, began with Marsalis's combo, followed by Alison Krauss, Jon Batiste and the now Sharon Jones-less (R.I.P.) Dap Kings, fiddler Mark O’ Connor, Chris Thile, 14-year old jazz pianist Joey Alexander, Jared Grimes, Jessica Vosk and a group of - of course - white shirted - acrobatic Broadway dancers , a very dressed down Paul  Simon, and Ledisi (who delivered an unusal interpretation of John Lennon's "Come Together"). Wow!  

In between performers, including Zac Posen (now working with the brand), Katie Holmes, "Black-ish"'s Yara Shahidi (who I had the pleasure of hanging with at the cocktail party), Christina Hendricks, stepped into the spotlight to give brief encomia to Brooks' style and the venerable brand's virtues and contributions.

The stage-crammed finale was Rev. Shirley Caesar and Damien Sneed‘s Chorale La Chateau for a gospel extravaganza and "Happy Birthday" (Stevie Wonder's arrangement) finale, joined by most of the evening's other performers, replete with fireworks and a giant "200" birthday cake, that brought down the house.

Street vendor food stuffed and Moët and specialty cocktail tipsy celebrants began drifting out during the first after-party and only the hard core partiers (like moi) made it to Dizzy's for the third of the evening's open bar events, entertained by, of course, live jazz.

Needless to say, it was a dazzling night to remember and one that successfully branded "Golden Fleece" BB fandom on any who were not already part of the flock.