Graceful memories

By 5 o’clock, the sweat-slicked party under a steamy tent in Quincy Jones’ backyard was peaking. The music was loud. Vitamin water and vodka-spiked lemonade were plentiful. Music producer Damon Dash and Macy Gray shuffled around on the dance floor, Gray’s impressive Afro swaying a few beats behind her hips. Gwen Stefani, decked head to toe in Dior, was swarmed by the fashion press. Nicky Hilton stood on the periphery, poised to leave, just as Stephen Dorff and his sunglasses-wearing posse headed inside.

It was the first Sunday in August, but nobody expected it to be so hot. This was, after all, Bel-Air. As guests arrived, they were handed fans and Dior sweatbands for their wrists. Ahi hors d’oeuvres were passed over for frozen lemonade on a stick. “I’m melting over here!” one woman squealed at the mirrored DJ booth. Behind her, rapper Q-Tip coyly skirted questions about the possibility of a Tribe Called Quest reunion tour.

This high-energy party had a bittersweet purpose. It was a fund-raiser for the Aaliyah Memorial Fund, created by the Entertainment Industry Foundation to honor the 21-year-old actress and R&B; singer who died in an August 2001 plane crash. Proceeds from the sale of $320 Dior sneakers at the event and at Dior stores through the week went to the fund, which raises money for breast cancer and Alzheimer’s charities.

Jones’ daughter, Kidada, and Aaliyah were best friends, and as a result, the families grew close. As the party gathered strength under the tent, Jones sat poolside and reminisced about the difficulty of letting go. He named other friends he had lost, Miles Davis and legendary saxophonist Benny Carter, then pointed to a gold pinkie ring on his left hand, a gift from his late friend Frank Sinatra.

“Aaliyah was like my seventh daughter,” he said, recalling a Christmas vacation in Fiji when the singer had joined his family. They had to evacuate early to avoid a typhoon, he said, but Aaliyah stopped on the way to their plane to sing “Amazing Grace” to a group of villagers. He added, “she will always be with us.”