'The First Lady of Song' to be on Stamp

'The First Lady of Song' to be on Stamp

NEW YORK, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 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., Jan. 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.

Broadcast Media: A DVD of Fitzgerald's 1975 "Is it Live or is it Memorex"
commercial in which she broke a wine glass while hitting
a high note will be available.

(Note: To obtain a downloadable 300 dpi image of the stamp visit the 2007 Commemorative stamp program release link at: http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2007stamps/)

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: U.S. Postal Service

CONTACT: Mark Saunders, +1-202-268-6524, Cell: +1-202-320-0782,
mark.r.saunders@usps.gov, or Pat McGovern, +1-212-330-3307, Cell:
+1-917-837-0942, pat.mcgovern@usps.gov, both of U.S. Postal Service; or Scott
Thompson of Jazz at Lincoln Center, +1-212-258-9807, sthompson@jalc.org

Web site: http://www.usps.com/

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