Simone-Marie Meeks Honors The Queen Of Jazz Ella Fitzgerald Performed For 58 Years, Won 13 Grammy Awards And Sold In Excess Of 40 Million Records And Lived In St Albans

(JAMAICA, NY)Today, the St Albans community with all of Southeast Queens, honored one of its own, the great Ella Fitzgerald, at an United States Postal Service stamp ceremony, in her honor at Black Spectrum Theatre located at 177th Street and Baisley Blvd Theater. Simone-Marie Meeks, wife of Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY) delivered the keynote remarks.

Born in Newport News, Va., in 1917, Ella Jane Fitzgerald moved as a youngster with her mother to Yonkers, N.Y. There she began to sing and dance from an early age. After winning numerous talent competitions, in the early 1930s she was hired to sing with Chick Webb's band. Ms. Fitzgerald made her mark as a scat singer and performed with most of the great musicians of the time. She recorded the song books of such composers as Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, and George and Ira Gershwin, and is regardedas one of Americas greatest vocalists.

Ms. Fitzgerald moved to St. Albans in the 1950s and lived on Murdock Avenue between 179th and 180th Street in the tree lined neighborhood of Addisleigh Park, a part of the larger Southeast Queens St. Albans neighborhood which has been home to numerous performers including Lena Horne, the late James Brown, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, and Count Basie.

My wife, Simone-Marie, and I are honored that the United States Postal Service has followed the lead of Clarence Irving Sr., founder of the Black American Heritage Foundation who conceived of the Black Heritage Stamp Series, by hosting this ceremony in the community in which Ella Fitzgerald once lived, stated Meeks. Ms. Fitzgerald the Queen of Jazz remains an inspiration to young people in our community and across our great nation.