Ella Fitzgerald to be honoured this week

NEWS RELEASE

UNITED STATES
POSTAL SERVICE

*************************
'The First Lady of Song' to be on stamp

NEW YORK - The U.S. Postal Service will honor Ella Fitzgerald as the 30th inductee into its Black Heritage stamp series.

Fitzgerald was widely known as "The First Lady of Song".

Her extraordinary vocal range and flexibility, combined with her gift for pitch, rhythmic sense, and flawless diction, made her a favorite of fans, songwriters and other singers.

The stamp image is a portrait based on a photograph taken circa 1956 that captures the joy and excitement that Fitzgerald brought to music.

Who:

- Nancy Wilson, Fitzgerald long-time friend, internationally-renowned song stylist and actress

- Ray Brown, Jr., Fitzgerald's son

- Jennifer Sanon, vocalist

- James Moody, saxophonist and NEH Jazz Master who performed with Fitzgerald

- Phoebe Jacobs, Fitzgerald long-time friend and executive vice president, the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Inc.

- Paul Davis, Fitzgerald stamp artist

- Ethel Kessler, Fitzgerald stamp designer

- Kathy Brown, executive director, jazz at Lincoln Center

- Delores J. Killette, vice president and consumer advocate

- United States Postal Service

- Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III, Pastor, Abyssinian Baptist Church, New York, NY

When:

11 a.m. (ET), Wed., January 10, 2007

Where:

Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Allen Room in Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10001

Background:

The Postal Service began issuing its popular Black Heritage stamp series in 1978 with a stamp honoring Harriet Tubman.

Ella Fitzgerald joins a long list of legendary African-American leaders, inventors, educators, scientists, entrepreneurs, entertainers, and athletes, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Marian Anderson, Malcolm X, and Madam C.J. Walker, who have appeared in the stamp series.

Art Director Ethel Kessler lauds the stamp portrait of Fitzgerald by illustrator Paul Davis of New York for the way it captures the joy and excitement she brought to music.

The stamp ceremony is free and open to the public.

*************************