BILL CLINTON, JAMES TAYLOR, AND STEVE MARTIN AT CARNEGIE HALL TUESDAY NIGHT. PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS LEE

James Taylor hosted a star-studded concert at Carnegie Hall this week to celebrate the New York landmark's 120th anniversary, and enlisted a few pals—Bette Midler, Dianne Reeves, Steve Martin, Barbara Cook, Kevin Pollak, and Sting—to help. With humor, grace, and a great sense of energy, the diverse show, dedicated to the history of Carnegie Hall, couldn't have been a more fitting tribute.

All the performers—despite their success in their various genres—maintained a healthy sense of self-deprecation. Steve Martin, before launching into an enormously impressive banjo solo, explained that some bluegrass magazines have taken to calling him the ambassador of the five-string banjo: "It was between me and no one," he deadpanned, proving that although his standup days are over, he still knows how to make an audience laugh. For Mr. Taylor's part, he said that his first performance at Carnegie Hall was almost 40 years earlier, in summer 1971, but that he wasn't sure what he'd played. "The '70s were kind of a blur," he explained, reasonably. Sting didn't make any jokes, but his rendition of "Penny Lane" more than made up for it.

Even Taylor's old friend Bill Clinton showed up near the end of the concert, to thank the fully packed audience and emphasize the importance of music education in public schools. Clinton came, he said, because in 20 years of friendship, this was the first time Taylor had asked a favor of him. Unfortunately, he did not seize the opportunity for a saxophone solo.

The musicians, along with many Carnegie Hall supporters and well-wishers, followed up the show with an elegant dinner at MoMA. It was there that we said hello to Tory Burch, in a refreshingly colorful ensemble, who explained that she used to come from her home on a farm in Pennsylvania to Carnegie Hall with her grandmother when she was a little girl. "I think I did see James Taylor, when I was very young!," she exclaimed. "I think I was like, four or three, and my mom said she took me. I saw many shows afterward, but that was my first one."