Bombay Durpun - Coppola, Grateful Dead honored at arts gala bidding Biden farewell

The Kennedy Center Honors, among the highest American arts awards, see Washington's political elite rub shoulders with entertainment A-listers who descend on the US seat of power.

It was the final gala in the presence of President Joe Biden, who sat with his wife Jill and Vice President Kamala Harris in the mezzanine of the opera house where psychedelic rockers the Grateful Dead, blues innovator Bonnie Raitt and jazz star Arturo Sandoval were also inducted.

The Apollo -- the globally celebrated Harlem music venue that launched myriad careers and bore witness to a civil rights revolution -- was the fifth honoree.

It was the first time a Kennedy Center award went to an arts institution.

The night of glamour is a fundraiser and traditionally features the president. Both Biden and Harris received standing ovations Sunday, the last gala of their term.

Donald Trump bucked the norm and did not attend during his presidency, after several of the honored artists threatened to boycott the gala if he came during his first year in office.

It's not unlikely such political theatrics may loom over the event again once Trump returns to the White House next year.

But Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter told AFP on the red carpet that she is unfazed.

"I work to find the best, most bipartisan way that we can represent all America -- all of America, to all of America."

It was indeed a bipartisan evening, with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson along with former house speaker Nancy Pelosi among the politicians in attendance.

Democrat Pelosi of California told journalists she is something of a "Deadhead" -- a member of the devoted subculture of fans known for following the Grateful Dead from show to show.

Asked if she ever attended a Grateful Dead concert -- known for their marathon length, improvisation, flower-child garb and drugs -- the 84-year-old Pelosi answered "many times."

- Legends honoring legends -

Sunday's concert gala was akin to a Dead concert when it came to length, clocking in at approximately four hours as top-tier talents took the stage in homage to their peers.

Scorsese gave a detailed account of a time Coppola -- the master behind cinematic epics including "Apocalypse Now" and "The Godfather" -- innovated a self-stirring pasta sauce by attaching a 16-millimeter projector to a wooden spoon that rotated along with the spool.

The crew including Scorsese and Coppola then left the simmering sauce to attend a screening.

"We came back three hours later. The sauce was perfect," Scorsese said to laughter and cheers. "What Francis did that night was heroic. It was undaunted, inventive -- it was the essence of creativity."

"Then, of course, there were the films."

Also in the house to celebrate Coppola was his daughter Sofia and granddaughter Gia, themselves both directors, along with his actor nephew Jason Schwartzman and his actor sister, Talia Shire.

Star Wars director and mentee Lucas along with longtime collaborators Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Laurence Fishburne also honored their friend.

Maggie Rogers and Leon Bridges kicked off the Grateful Dead tribute with "Friend of the Devil" as stars including Chloe Sevigny, Sturgill Simpson, David Letterman and Dave Matthews also featured among those honoring the San Francisco rockers who played a key role in 1960s counterculture.

The touching homage was particularly poignant in the wake of founding member Phil Lesh's recent death.

Living members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann attended to accept the honor.

A laundry list of stars including Queen Latifah, Doug E. Fresh and Dave Chappelle graced the stage to celebrate the Apollo, which fetes its 90th anniversary this year.

The performance detailed the venue's sweeping history that launched stars and cemented legends, all against the backdrop of racist segregation and civil-rights era protest.

Stars including Sheryl Crow, Brandi Carlile, Arnold McCuller, Jackson Browne and James Taylor performed in honor of Raitt, the Grammy-winning and cult-favorite rock, blues and folk singer.

"Her sort of swagger and confidence in the way that she holds herself, with her shoulders back, and that stance with that electric guitar, showed me pretty much everything I needed to know as a young girl about the fact that I could do that too," fellow Grammy-winner Carlile told AFP.

And Cuban-born Sandoval, the jazz artist with exceedingly flexible range, inspired a rhythmic Latin jazz performance that brought the crowd to its feet.

O.Mallick--BD