Editing St. Albans, Queens (section)

== Notable people ==

St. Albans was home to many artists of the [[jazz music|jazz]], [[Hip hop music|hip hop]], and [[rap music]] genres. The following notable people are known to have lived in the area:
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'''Music'''
* [[Count Basie]] (1904–1984), jazz pianist, lived at 174{{hyphen}}27 Adelaide Rd.<ref name=NYT1997>{{cite news |author=Johnson, Kirk |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9902E6D8133DF931A35751C0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=5 |title=Black Workers Bear Big Burden As Jobs in Government Dwindle |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 2, 1997 |access-date=November 20, 2007 |quote=Its roots and its reputation as New York's premier black middle class enclave go back further than that, to the 1940s, when Count Basie and Lena Horne and Jackie Robinson and Hal Jackson made their homes in St. Albans.}}</ref><ref name=HDC /><ref name=QT />
* [[Joe Benjamin]] (1919–1974), jazz bassist.<ref name="queenspress">{{cite web|url=http://www.queenspress.com/archives/features/2003/0131/feature.htm|last=Tarek|first=Shams|title=Celebrating Black History Month: History Makers That Have Made A Mark On Southeast Queens|work=Southeast Queens Press|date=January 31, 2003|access-date=July 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706204733/http://www.queenspress.com/archives/features/2003/0131/feature.htm|archive-date=July 6, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Brook Benton]] (1931–1988), singer and songwriter<ref name=JMoQ />
* [[Earl Bostic]], saxophonist, lived at 178{{hyphen}}16 Murdock Avenue<ref name=LPC />
* [[James Brown (musician)|James Brown]] (1933–2006), recording artist and musician<ref name=HDC /><ref name=QT /><ref name=JMoQ />
* [[John Coltrane]] (1926–1967), jazz saxophonist and composer<ref name=QT /><ref name=JMoQ /><ref name=SEQP>{{cite web |url=http://www.queenspress.com/archives/features/2003/0620/feature.htm |title=The Rebirth of Cool: A Jazz Renaissance In Southeast Queens |first=Shams |last=Tarek |publisher=Southeast Queens Press |access-date=March 8, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604164236/http://www.queenspress.com/archives/features/2003/0620/feature.htm |archive-date=June 4, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis]] (1922–1986), saxophonist<ref name=JMoQ />
* [[Miles Davis]] (1926–1991), jazz musician<ref name=Queenswalk>{{cite web|url= http://queens.brownstoner.com/2013/05/queenswalk-a-look-at-st-albans/|title=Queenswalk: A Look at St. Albans|date=May 22, 2013 |publisher= Brownstoner Queens|access-date= October 23, 2013}}</ref>
* [[Phife Dawg]] (1970–2016), rapper and member of [[A Tribe Called Quest]]<ref name="queenspress" /><ref name=Queenswalk />
* [[Mercer Ellington]], jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger, lived at 113{{hyphen}}02 175th St.<ref name=QT /><ref name=JMoQ />
* [[Ella Fitzgerald]], jazz vocalist, lived at 179{{hyphen}}07 Murdock Av.<ref name=QT /><ref name=NYT2008>{{Cite news|last=Plambeck|first=Joseph|date=December 5, 2008|title=Bluesy Home Market With a Jazzy Past|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/realestate/07living.html|access-date=March 12, 2023|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* [[Karl Grossman]], journalist and professor of journalism.<ref>Hamill, Denis. [https://indyeastend.com/news-opinion/columnists-opinion/shine-light-on-karl-grossman/ "Shine Light On Karl Grossman"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928033512/https://indyeastend.com/news-opinion/columnists-opinion/shine-light-on-karl-grossman/ |date=September 28, 2020 }}, ''The Independent'', February 11, 2020. "If you visit Fire Island on Valentine's Day with someone special and marvel at the preserved natural beauty, give thanks that a gutsy kid reporter named Karl Grossman from St. Albans, Queens biked east as a young man because he fell in love with newspapering and a Long Island gal named Janet Kopp at Antioch College."</ref>
* [[Milt Hinton]], jazz double bassist and photographer, lived at 173{{hyphen}}05 113th Av.<ref name=QT /><ref name=JMoQ>{{cite web|url=http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/jazztour/queensjazz.html |title=The Jazzmen of Queens |access-date=March 9, 2009}}</ref>
* [[Lena Horne]] (1917–2010), singer, lived at 112{{hyphen}}45 178th St.<ref name=NYT1997 /><ref name=QT>{{cite news |url=http://www.queenstribune.com/guides/2007_QCulture/Music/index.htm |title=They May Have Played Harlem But They Lived Here |first=Jennifer |last=Polland |newspaper=Queens Tribune |access-date=March 9, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104011138/http://queenstribune.com/guides/2007_QCulture/Music/index.htm |archive-date=January 4, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=JMoQ />
* [[Weldon Irvine]], jazz pianist, composer and poet<ref>{{cite web|title=Digging For Weldon Irvine|url=https://www.docnrollfestival.com/films/digging-for-weldon-irvine/|website=docnrollfestival.com|access-date=August 10, 2020|archive-date=September 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930082114/https://www.docnrollfestival.com/films/digging-for-weldon-irvine/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Illinois Jacquet]], jazz tenor saxophonist, lived at 112{{hyphen}}44 179th St.<ref name=QT /><ref name=JMoQ />
* [[Russell Jacquet]], lived at 112{{hyphen}}32 179th St.<ref name=LPC />
* [[LL Cool J]], rapper, entrepreneur, and actor<ref name="hhia">Hess, Mickey (2009). ''Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide''. ABC-CLIO. p. 59. {{ISBN|0-31334-321-7}}.</ref>
* [[Bill Kenny (singer)|Bill Kenny]], Pop and R&B vocalist & lead singer of The Ink Spots<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://inkspots.ca/BILL-BIO.html|title=***HERB KENNYthe INK SPOTS***|website=inkspots.ca|access-date=February 18, 2019}}</ref>
* [[Wendell Marshall]], jazz bassist and last surviving member of Duke Ellington's orchestra<ref name="queenspress" />
* [[Rose Murphy]], vocalist, pianist, lived at 114{{hyphen}}28 180th St.<ref name=LPC />
* [[Larry Smith (producer)|Larry Smith]], hip hop producer<ref name="Cuepoint">{{cite web|last1=Ettelson|first1=Robbie|title=The Triumphs and Tragedies of Larry Smith|url=https://medium.com/cuepoint/the-triumphs-and-tragedies-of-larry-smith-ca3f259eec70|website=medium.com|date=December 5, 2016 |publisher=Cuepoint|access-date=June 7, 2020}}</ref>
* [[Eileen Southern]], musicologist<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/eileen-jackson-southern-prodigious-contributor-study-african-american-music | title=biography at African American Registry | access-date=June 19, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227010509/http://aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/eileen-jackson-southern-prodigious-contributor-study-african-american-music | archive-date=December 27, 2010 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Slam Stewart]], jazz bass player, lived at 114{{hyphen}}28 180th St.<ref name=LPC />
* [[William Grant Still]], classical composer<ref name=Queenswalk />
* [[A Tribe Called Quest]], rap group<ref name=Queenswalk />
* [[Q-Tip (musician)|Q-Tip]], musician, actor and member of A Tribe Called Quest<ref name=Queenswalk />
* [[Mal Waldron]], jazz pianist<ref name="queenspress" />
* [[Fats Waller]], jazz pianist, lived at 173{{hyphen}}19 Sayres Av.<ref name=QT /><ref name=JMoQ />
* [[Frank Wess]], jazz musician<ref name="queenspress" />
* [[Cootie Williams]], trumpeter, lived at 175{{hyphen}}19 Linden Blvd.<ref name=LPC />
* [[Lester Young]], jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist<ref name="queenspress" /><ref name=JMoQ /><ref name=SEQP />
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'''Sports'''
* [[Bad News Allen]] (1943–2007), 1976 bronze medalist (Olympic Judo) and pro-wrestler<ref name="P.S.36Q, The St. Albans School">{{cite web|url= http://ps36q.webs.com/aboutourschoolcommunity.htm|title= Famous residents of St. Albans, New York|publisher= P.S.36Q, The St. Albans School|access-date= October 23, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185607/http://ps36q.webs.com/aboutourschoolcommunity.htm|archive-date= October 29, 2013|url-status= dead}}</ref>
* [[Roy Campanella]] (1921–1993), 1950s All-Star catcher with Brooklyn Dodgers, lived at 114{{hyphen}}10 179th St.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,807431,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810120419/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,807431,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 10, 2013 |title=1955 TIME article on Campanella | magazine=Time | date=August 8, 1955 | access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref>
* [[Bob Cousy]], 1950s All-Star basketball player with Boston Celtics<ref>{{cite web |url= http://magazine.holycross.edu/sites/all/modules/tinytinymce/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/filemanager/files/magazine/hcm_43_1_gatefold.pdf |title= Bob Cousy Timeline |publisher= College of the Holy Cross |access-date= April 7, 2012 |archive-date= August 10, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130810183100/http://magazine.holycross.edu/sites/all/modules/tinytinymce/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/filemanager/files/magazine/hcm_43_1_gatefold.pdf |url-status= dead }}</ref>
* [[Joe Louis]] (1914–1981), heavyweight boxing champion, lived at 175{{hyphen}}12 Murdock Av.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19560420&id=p9MxAAAAIBAJ&pg=7048,1116075|title=Ottawa Citizen – Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|access-date=February 18, 2019}}</ref>
* [[Floyd Patterson]] (1935–2006), heavyweight boxing champion<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thesportgallery.com/patterson-heinz.html |title=The Floyd Patterson His Friends Know |first=W.C. |last=Heinz |publisher=SPORT magazine |date=November 1960 |access-date=December 20, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204030840/http://www.thesportgallery.com/patterson-heinz.html |archive-date=December 4, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1957/03/18/memo-from-the-publisher/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130102081507/http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1132513/index.htm |url-status=live |archive-date=January 2, 2013 |date=March 18, 1957 |title=Memo From The Publisher |first=Harry |last=Phillips |magazine=Sports Illustrated |access-date=December 20, 2008 }}</ref>
* [[Will Poole]], football player<ref name="P.S.36Q, The St. Albans School" />
* [[Jackie Robinson]] (1919–1972), [[Major League Baseball]] player, lived at 112{{hyphen}}40 177th St.<ref name=NYT1997 />
* [[Babe Ruth]] (1895–1948), baseball legend<ref>{{cite web | title=Ruth, Gehrig play ball in Woodhaven | website=Queens Chronicle | date=October 12, 1928 | url=http://www.qchron.com/qboro/i_have_often_walked/ruth-gehrig-play-ball-in-woodhaven/article_51f85b4f-0960-510c-9a75-0f22b63bb634.html | access-date=May 13, 2018}}</ref>
* [[Eddie Sweat]], [[Secretariat (horse)|Secretariat's]] groom<ref name=Queenswalk />

'''Other'''
* [[Alonzo Bodden]] (born 1962), comedian, actor and radio personality<ref>Keepnews, Peter. [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/31/arts/television/his-big-break-canceled-comic-adapts.html "His Big Break Canceled, Comic Adapts"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 31, 2005. Accessed June 12, 2023. "Mr. Bodden, 42, who begins a four-night headlining engagement at Carolines on Broadway tonight, is a former jet mechanic from St. Albans, Queens."</ref>
* [[John Henry Brinckerhoff]] (1829–1903), merchant and public official<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/documentaryhisto01stou/page/n319/mode/2up|title=A documentary history of het (the) Nederdeutsche gemeente, Dutch congregation, of Oyster Bay, Queens County, Island of Nassau, now Long Island|first=Henry Augustus|last=Stoutenburgh|date=September 15, 1902|publisher=[New York]|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
* [[W. E. B. Du Bois]] (1868–1963), sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author and editor. W. E. B. Du Bois and [[Shirley Graham Du Bois]], both lived at 173{{hyphen}}19 113th Road<ref name=HDC>Cowan, Jane.
"Addisleigh Park: Enclave of Greats in African-American History, Wholly Intact 20th Century Garden City Suburb and Site of Important American Housing History." Historic Districts Council (2008) . Accessed March 9, 2009.</ref>
* [[Anna Lee Fisher]] (born 1949), astronaut<ref>{{cite web
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090829002704/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761583175/Fisher_Anna_Lee.html
| url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761583175/fisher_anna_lee.html
| title= Encarta article on Fisher
| archive-date=August 29, 2009 |access-date=July 5, 2013}}</ref>
* [[Clarence L. Irving]] (1924–2014), cultural activist and mentor who made significant contributions to African-American history and heritage.<ref>Costella, AnnMarie. [https://www.qchron.com/editions/eastern/ex-st-albans-man-takes-part-in-history-project/article_445a3886-99e1-5dd4-bcdd-c3fc933d454b.html"Ex-St. Albans man takes part in history project; New exhibit documents experiences of former Brooklyn Navy Yard workers"], ''[[Queens Chronicle]]'', November 3, 2011.Accessed March 11, 2023. "Clarence Irving Sr., 87, a former St. Albans resident, is among dozens of Brooklyn Navy Yard workers whose stories and experiences are featured in an oral history project to be unveiled next week at the facility, where shipbuilding began after the American Revolution and which in its heyday sprawled over 200 acres."</ref>
* [[Alex Katz]] (born 1927), painter best known for his large-scale landscape paintings and portraits of friends and family<ref>Ambrose, David. [https://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/early-drawings-reveal-his-potential/3707 "Alex Katz's Early Drawings Reveal His Potential"], ''[[Whitehot (magazine)|Whitehot]]'', June 2017. Accessed November 18, 2023. "Many of these drawings were made while riding the E Line from his families' home in St. Alban's, Queens to the East Village and back."</ref>
* [[Al Roker]] (born 1954), meteorologist<ref>{{cite web |url=http://queens.about.com/b/2006/06/07/they-came-from-queens-al-roker-from-st-albans.htm |title=They Came from Queens |access-date=March 9, 2009 |archive-date=February 4, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080204152845/http://queens.about.com/b/2006/06/07/they-came-from-queens-al-roker-from-st-albans.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Percy Sutton]] (1920–2009), black political leader, lived at 114{{hyphen}}19 179th Street<ref name=LPC />
* [[Joan Vohs]] (1927–2001), film actress<ref>Marzlock, Ron. [https://www.qchron.com/qboro/i_have_often_walked/joan-vohs-became-a-stunner-here-in-st-albans/article_0fc131c9-d17d-5a90-9145-d036bc198d8e.html "Joan Vohs became a stunner here in St. Albans"], ''[[Queens Chronicle]]'', March 24, 2022. Accessed November 18, 2023. "The childhood home of actress and model Joan Vohs at 118{{hyphen}}31 198 St. in St. Albans, as it looked in the 1940s."</ref>
* [[Roy Wilkins]] (1901–1981), longtime NAACP Head, Civil Rights activist<ref name=Queenswalk />
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=== Jazz legacy ===

Famous stride pianist [[Fats Waller]] was the first well-known musician to move into Addisleigh Park at the peak of his career in the late 1930s. Waller had grown up in the Church (his father was a pastor).<ref>{{cite book |last=DeVeaux |first=Scott |title=Jazz |year=2009 |publisher=W. W. Norton |page=170}}</ref>  He subsequently had his home in Addisleigh Park fashioned with a built-in Hammond organ.<ref name="forgotten-ny.com">{{cite web |url= http://forgotten-ny.com/tag/addisleigh-park/ |title=Addisleigh Park |work=Forgotten New York |year=2014 |access-date=June 20, 2014}}</ref> He died in 1943 from bronchial pneumonia.

In 1937, jazz pianist and bandleader [[Count Basie]] moved his orchestra from Kansas City to New York. Count Basie's orchestra performed at world-famous Manhattan venues including the [[Roseland Ballroom]], the [[Savoy Ballroom]], and the Woodside Hotel. In 1946, Basie and his wife, Katy, bought a home in Addisleigh Park, where the couple lived until 1973 when it was sold to bandleader/singer/pianist, Robert (Bubber) Johnson.<ref>{{cite web |last=Adams |first=Michael Henry |title=Protecting the House Where Lena Lived! |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-henry-adams/protecting-the-house-wher_b_574420.html |work=[[The Huffington Post]] |date=May 17, 2010 |access-date=June 20, 2014}}</ref>

Singer, film actress, and Civil Rights Activist [[Lena Horne]] also moved into the Addisleigh Park neighborhood in the year 1946.
Soon after Horne, jazz trumpeter and bandleader [[Mercer Ellington]], son of jazz great [[Duke Ellington]], moved into Addisleigh Park in 1948. Eight years earlier, he had worked for renowned jazz trumpeter [[Cootie Williams]] as his road manager. Cootie Williams bought a home in Addisleigh Park in 1947.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Black History Month |first=Gregory W. |last=Meeks |author-link=Gregory W. Meeks  |journal=Congressional Record |date=March 1, 2007 |volume=153 |issue=4 |page=5234 |isbn=978-0-16-086976-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ExHp3NbxB4IC&q=cootie+williams+addisleigh+park&pg=PA5234}}</ref> While residing in Addisleigh Park, Mercer Ellington employed [[Dizzy Gillespie]], [[Kenny Dorham]], and [[Charles Mingus]]. Throughout the 1940s, Mercer and his father, Duke Ellington, frequently borrowed musicians from one another's ensembles.

Saxophonist [[Earl Bostic]] moved to Addisleigh Park in 1948, the same year Bostic's sextet hit success with their first single "Temptation".<ref>"178-16 Murdock Avenue, Home of Earl Bostic", Historic Districts Council (2014). Accessed June 20, 2014.</ref> Bostic was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In the early 1930s, he played with Midwestern territory bands before moving to New York City in 1938 to play with Don Redman. Bostic's second hit, "Flamingo", was produced in 1951, while he was still living in Addisleigh Park. In 1956, Bostic and his wife left Addisleigh Park to settle in Los Angeles. Earl Bostic died onstage from a heart attack in Rochester, New York, in 1965.

Bostic's neighbors on Murdock Avenue were [[Ella Fitzgerald]] and her then-husband, famous bassist and cellist [[Ray Brown (musician)|Ray Brown]]. Fitzgerald owned her Addisleigh Park home from 1949 until 1956.<ref>"179-07 Murdock Avenue, Home of Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Brown", Historic Districts Council (2014). Accessed June 20, 2014.</ref> During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Fitzgerald had become one of the most recognizable names of wide-release swing music in the United States. She met Brown in 1946 while on tour with Dizzy Gillespie's band.<ref name="ellafitzgerald">{{cite web |url=http://www.ellafitzgerald.com/about/biography.html |title=The Official Web Site of Ella Fitzgerald: Biography |work=ellafitzgerald.com |year=2013 |access-date=June 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627121606/http://www.ellafitzgerald.com/about/biography.html |archive-date=June 27, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The couple divorced in 1952.<ref name="ellafitzgerald" /> Between the years 1949 and 1956, Fitzgerald sang scat with various bebop bands. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George H. W. Bush in 1992.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dosomething.org/blog/chatterbox/change-maker-black-history-ella-fitzgerald |title=Change-maker in black history: Ella Fitzgerald |work=Do Something |year=2014 |access-date=June 20, 2014 |archive-date=May 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518211933/http://www.dosomething.org/blog/chatterbox/change-maker-black-history-ella-fitzgerald |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Vicksburg, Mississippi]], native and famous jazz bassist [[Milt Hinton]] moved into Addisleigh Park in 1950.<ref name="forgotten-ny.com" /> In his younger years, he had lived and worked in Chicago alongside celebrated jazz musicians Art Tatum and Eddie South. He moved to New York City for a job in Cab Calloway's orchestra in 1936. Hinton bought a home on 113th Avenue in Addisleigh Park in 1950. He lived in the neighborhood until his death in 2000.

Saxophonist [[John Coltrane]] bought a home on Mexico Street in Addisleigh Park in the year 1959.<ref>{{cite book |last=Porter |first=Lewis |title=John Coltrane: His Life and Music |year=1999 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=0-472-10161-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/johncoltranehisl00port/page/139 139] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/johncoltranehisl00port/page/139 }}</ref> Coltrane had just met tremendous critical success after his collaborations with [[Thelonious Monk]] and [[Miles Davis]]. In January 1960, Coltrane released ''[[Giant Steps]]'', his first album with Atlantic Records. ''Giant Steps'' is considered to be the album that catapulted Coltrane into jazz legend.