Mesmerized by Ella and Friends

Said veteran benefit-goer Diane Morton: “The best benefit I’ve ever been to.”

Others at the Beverly Hilton were as exhilarated over the USC Friends of Music night, dubbed “Ella.”

The black-tie crowd had just been mesmerized by a unique reunion: 74-year-old Ella Fitzgerald singing on stage with the jazz greats who have accompanied her over the years--drummer Louis Bellson, pianist Gerald Wiggins, Buddy Collette on tenor sax, Marshall Royal on alto sax and Snooky Young on trumpet.

Joining them on bass was a younger Dave Stone.

Then there were the incredible moments with Joe Williams singing a sweet “The Very Thought of You,” looking at Fitzgerald, and then “I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water” with audience participation.

Add to that the USC Jazz Combo’s “A Tisket, a Tasket” (which Fitzgerald made famous) before that song’s composer, Van Alexander, twinkled on stage singing Steve Allen’s original “When Ella Sings.”

The singer was supposed to have been Herb Jeffries, who was husky with laryngitis but who stood at Alexander’s right elbow at the piano giving him moral support.

Memorable film clips--Fitzgerald with Duke Ellington, Fitzgerald with Frank Sinatra and more--were interspersed.

Then, under a blinking marquee flashing “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” an audience including Kay Starr, Benny Carter and Henry and Ginny Mancini watched as Fitzgerald struggled to the stage (in pain from recent toe operations).

Once perched on a chair, she happily lost herself in an wondrous jam session--”Oh, Lady Be Good” an example.

Dean of Music Larry J. Livingston seemed moved almost to tears as he launched the evening and later presented the Magnum Opus Award to Fitzgerald.

Master of ceremonies Chuck Niles lent humor and pizazz to the evening. Chairwoman Eva Fremont was delighted.

IN THE GROVE: The World Famous Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador, symbol of halcyon Hollywood days, experienced a vivid reincarnation last week.

Chairman Patricia Kennedy put on a belated Joffrey Ballet benefit, which had been canceled because of rioting in April, and filled the grove with flowers from her own yard.

The coconut palms were swaying and the lights were romantic for some 300 to dine and be treated to performances of “Structure” by Beatriz Rodriguez and Pierre Lockett, an erotic pas de deux from next season’s “Billboards” (to the music of Prince), danced by Jodie Gates and Philip Gardner, and another pas de deux from “Birthday Variations,” danced by Tina LeBlanc and Tyler Walters.

Joffrey founder Gerald Arpino welcomed the crowd, and so did executive committee chairman Michael Tennenbaum, who pleaded that “people must bond together and make a good life for all of us.”

Among his guests were Tracey Robinson, the Rev. A. D. Iverson and rumored mayoral candidate Richard Riordan. Alluding to the Joffrey’s financial woes, Tennenbaum stressed that the Joffrey needs new committed board members as well as urgent financial support.

Moroccan foods spiced palates. Then pianist John Bayless concertized for a crowd including Joan and Allan Burns, entrepreneur Uri Sheinbaum (Kennedy’s husband), Donna Kamin, Donna Mills and Joel Dean and Joffrey executive director C. C. Conners of New York.

THE OAKS CLASSIC: Should one dwell on the plein-air paintings, like Guy Rose’s “Laguna Eucalyptus,” or admire the jumpers, like S & L Ballet, which won with rider Hugh Mutch?

That was the dilemma Sunday when Joan Irvine Smith and her mother Athalie Clark turned the $50,000 Grand Prix afternoon of their seventh annual Oaks Classic at San Juan Capistrano into not only a horse show but an art show of some of the several thousand early California paintings Smith has collected recently for her intended new museum in Irvine.

Needed, too, were minutes to browse through booths (where art dealers sold paintings) and minutes for sustenance from tacos and fresh seafood.

Unlike previous years, when the hostesses invited their friends as guests, the event this year was turned into a $200-per-person benefit for one of Joan’s pet causes, the National Water Research Institute. Guests also paid for their drinks. Spotted in the crowd: Lynn and Clement Hirsch, Alyce Williamson, James and Madeline Swinden, Valerie Rigby, Ed Pauley, Wally Neff, Katy Shattuck, Vevie Reynolds and Jean Stern (new head of the Irvine Museum).

PLAUDITS: To Barbara Lazaroff, new to the board of the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. . . .

To Karen McGovern, president of the National Charity League.

LAUDED: The Assistance League’s 35th annual Medallion Ball at the Biltmore saluted Assisteens Angelica Annino, Allison Beckett, Kellee Carper, Wendy Douglas, Nicole Eichenlaub, Liv Eisaman, Sara Gallagher, May Griff, Lisa Katz, Kerry Katzenbach, Leigh Marston, Bridget McCarthy, Anne-Marie McDermott, Claudia McDonnell, Suzanne Moller, Ryan Murphy, Vanessa Osborne, Kristina Osterloh, Tara Seery, Lori Simpson, Jeanel Smith and Brenda Terry.

ZAP!: If it hadn’t been for mosquitoes that zoomed in like F-14s, the 70 who dined on chicken curry on Robert and Nadine Skotheim’s rolling lawns in San Marino this week might still be enjoying conversations and laughter. The party was a true celebration for the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, which is launching a new $15-million endowment goal. Trustees chairman Robert F. Erburu paid tribute to Richard Ekman of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for a gift of $1.5 million, and Robert Ahmanson, president of the Ahmanson Foundation, for its $3-million matching gift. Earlier, at the afternoon Friends’ Day lawn party, several hundred saluted the new gifts with strawberries and lemonade.