Fans mount campaign to save jazz vocalist's home

World-renowned Seattle jazz vocalist Ernestine Anderson is in imminent danger of losing her home in the Central District.

The house will go into foreclosure and be auctioned July 11 unless $45,000 is paid by June 30.

An 11th-hour campaign has been mounted by community leaders Carver and Carmen Gayton to save the Anderson home. The house has been in the family since 1946.

On Sunday, the Gaytons sent an e-mail appeal to 350 people, requesting donations for Anderson.

The letter explained that an account had been set up at Bank of America in Washington state under "The Ernestine Anderson Fund."

Donors can make a contributions at any Bank of America, the letter said. People who live outside of Washington state may also make donations, referencing "Bank of America Washington: The Ernestine Anderson Fund."

James Kelly, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, sent a similar e-mail.

"We hear stories daily of people who are being forced to foreclose on their homes and it is truly heartbreaking," the e-mail reads. "... Unfortunately, that is a reality for many in this troubled economy and now, it has affected our own living legend, the incomparable Ernestine Anderson who is a four-time Grammy Nominee."

Anderson, 79, came up on Seattle's Jackson Street scene in the 1940s with Quincy Jones and Ray Charles.

She performs internationally, including recent appearances in New York and Japan. But she has been fighting mounting debt for several years, including back taxes.

Paul de Barros: 206-464-3247 or pdebarros@seattletimes.com