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Ella Jenkins

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Ella Jenkins
Birth nameElla Louise Jenkins
Born(1924-08-06)August 6, 1924
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
OriginChicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedNovember 9, 2024(2024-11-09) (aged 100)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
GenresFolk, children's music
OccupationSinger-songwriter
InstrumentsUkulele, harmonica
Years active1951–2017
LabelsFolkways Records
Smithsonian Folkways
Websitewww.ellajenkins.com

Ella Louise Jenkins (August 6, 1924 – November 9, 2024) was an American singer-songwriter and centenarian. Called "the First Lady of the Children's Folk Song", she was a leading performer of folk and children's music.[1][2] Her 1995 album Multicultural Children's Songs has long been the most popular Smithsonian Folkways release. She appeared on numerous children's television programs and in 2004, she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.[3][4] According to culture writer Mark Guarino, "across her 67-year career, Jenkins firmly established the genre of children's music as a serious endeavor — not just for artists to pursue but also for the recording industry to embrace and promote."[5]

Background

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Jenkins was born into an African American family in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1924, and grew up in predominantly lower-middle-class neighborhoods in the south side of Chicago.[6] Jenkins received no formal musical training, and developed an appreciation for music while growing up in a family of Christian Scientists with eclectic musical tastes.[7] Her uncle, Floyd Johnson, introduced her to the harmonica[8] and the blues of such renowned musicians as T-Bone Walker, Memphis Slim, Little Brother Montgomery and Big Bill Broonzy. Her family frequently moved around the south side and, as she moved to different neighborhoods, she learned new children's rhythms, rhymes and games.[9] Gospel music became a part of her soundscape as neighborhood churches broadcast their services onto the street.[1] She also enjoyed tap dancing lessons at the local theater and was able to go to the Regal Theater to see such performers as Cab Calloway, Count Basie, and Peg Leg Bates. Cab Calloway is the person who she credits with getting her interested in call and response singing.[10][11]

While attending Woodrow Wilson Junior College, she became interested in the music of other cultures through her Mexican, Cuban and Puerto Rican friends.[9] In 1951, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with minors in Child Psychology and Recreation from San Francisco State University.[1] Here, she picked up songs of the Jewish culture from her roommates. Upon graduating, she returned to Chicago in 1951, where she began her career.[7]

On November 9, 2024, Jenkins died at an assisted living facility in Chicago; she was 100.[6][12]

Career

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In Chicago, Jenkins began writing songs for children while volunteering in recreation centers.[1] She subsequently was hired as a Teenage Program Director for the YWCA in 1952. While working at the YWCA, she was invited to perform on the Chicago public television show, The Totem Club. She was soon offered a regular job as the host of its Thursday program, which she entitled This is Rhythm. She invited guests from diverse cultures to share their music's rhythms on her show.[9]

You Sing a Song and I'll Sing a Song (1966)

In 1956, Jenkins decided to become a full-time musician. She began her career as a children's musician touring school assemblies in the United States, often sleeping in a different place each night and encountering racial discrimination.[2] As she performed in more varied venues, she began to write music about her experiences. Later that year Jenkins met American folklorist, educator and record producer Kenneth S. Goldstein at the Gate of Horn folk music club in Chicago. Goldstein recommended that she bring a demo tape to Moses Asch, the founder of Folkways Records.[7] Asch was receptive to her music and in 1957, her first album, Call-And-Response: Rhythmic Group Singing, was released by Folkways. Since then, Folkways Records and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings released 39 albums, including the popular You'll Sing a Song and I'll Sing a Song. Her 1995 album Multicultural Children's Songs is the most popular Smithsonian Folkways release to date.[citation needed] Jenkins' repertoire included nursery rhymes, holiday songs, bilingual songs, African-American folk songs, international songs, rhythmic chants, and original songs.

As a performer and educator, Jenkins traveled extensively, performing her songs on all seven continents (even Antarctica). As she traveled, she not only shared her music and experiences but also learned about the cultures of the people she is visiting, taking with her musical traditions and languages that she then shared with her audiences. She also made television appearances on shows including NBC's Today Show, CNN's Showbiz Today, and PBS programs such as Barney & Friends, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, The Me Too Show, Look at Me, and in films shown on Sesame Street. She performed at America's Reunion on the Mall in 1993, America's Millennium Celebration in 2000, and at Smithsonian's 150th Birthday Party on the Mall in Washington, DC in 1996. In collaboration with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, she acted as a U.S. delegate to Hong Kong, the People's Republic of China, and the former Soviet Union.[1]

As a recording artist, Jenkins gained extensive recognition. Her recordings received Parents' Choice awards and two Grammy Award nominations in the category of Best Musical Album for Children. In 2004, she was recognized with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.[13]

Jenkins' final album, Camp Songs with Ella Jenkins and Friends, was released in 2017.[6]

As an educator

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Jenkins saw children as genuine, down to earth people who should be listened to and recognized as having much to offer. Fellow music educator Patricia Sheehan Campbell lauded her as "a pioneer in her early and continuing realization that children have something to sing about, that the essence of who they are may be expressed through song, and that much of what they need to know of their language, heritage, and current cultural concepts may be communicated to them through song".[14] Through her songs, Jenkins hoped to develop greater intercultural understanding and rhythmic-consciousness, and to help people discover the joy of singing and communicating through active participation in songs.[citation needed]

Jenkins used call-and-response singing to promote group participation[15] and encouraged children to lead songs, make up their own variations of songs, and experiment with fun and silly sounds.[citation needed]

Jenkins was holding music workshops for children's educators by the early 1970s.[16]

Awards and recognition

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Legacy

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A Life of Song: The Story of Ella Jenkins. The First Lady of Children's Music was published by Gloo Books on February 1, 2024.[23] It is the first kids picture book published about the life of Ella Jenkins. Author Ty-Juana Taylor noted that "Ms. Jenkins has used music as a tool to bridge and unite people across the world, especially in highly divisive times of the U.S. Civil Rights era."[24] Ella and the city of Chicago celebrated her 100th birthday and the books release on August 4, 2024 at Ella Jenkins Park in the Old Town Triangle neighborhood.[25] The book is illustrated by Jade Johnson.

Discography

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1950s and 1960s

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  • Call-and-Response Rhythmic Group Singing (1957, reissued 1990)[26]
  • Adventures in Rhythm (1959, reissued 1989)[27]
  • African-American Folk Rhythms (1960, reissued 1998)[28]
  • This-a-Way-That-a-Way (1961, reissued 1989)[29]
  • This is Rhythm (1961, reissued 1994)[30]
  • Rhythm & Game Songs for Little Ones (1964, reissued 1991)[31]
  • Songs and Rhythms From Near and Far (1964, reiussed 1997)[32][33]
  • You'll Sing a Song and I'll Sing a Song (1966, reissued 1989)[34]
  • Play Your Instruments & Make a Pretty Sound (1968, reissued 1994)[35]
  • Counting Games & Rhythms for the Little Ones (1969, reissued 1990)[31][33]

1970s

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  • A Long Time (1970, reissued 1992, 2024)[36]
  • Rhythms of Childhood (1970, reissued 1989)[37]
  • Seasons for Singing (1970, reissued 1990)[38]
  • And One And Two & Other Songs for Pre-School and Primary Children (1971, reissued 1990)[39]
  • My Street Begins at My House (1971, reissued 1989)[40]
  • Little Johnny Brown with Ella Jenkins and Girls and Boys from "Uptown" (Chicago) (1972, reissued 1990)[41]
  • This-A-Way That-A-Way (1973, reissued 1989, 1992)
  • Nursery Rhymes: Rhyming & Remembering for Young Children & for Older Girls & Boys with Special Language Needs (1974, reissued 1990)[42]
  • Jambo and Other Call and Response Songs and Chants (1974, reissued 1996)[43][33]
  • Growing Up With Ella Jenkins (1976, reissued 1990)[44]
  • Songs, Rhythms And Chants for the Dance (1977, reissued 2000)[32]
  • Travellin' with Ella Jenkins: – A Bilingual Journey (1979, reissued 1989)[45]

1980s

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  • I Know the Colors of the Rainbow (1981)[46]
  • Looking Back and Looking Forward (1981)[47]
  • Early Early Childhood Songs (1982, reissued 1996)[48][33]
  • Hopping Around from Place to Place Vol. 1 (1983)[49]
  • Hopping Around from Place to Place Vol. 2 (1983)[50]

1990s

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  • We Are America's Children (1990)[51]
  • Live at the Smithsonian (1991)[52]
  • For the Family (1991)[53]
  • Come Dance by the Ocean (1992)[54]
  • Multicultural Children's Songs (1995)[55][56]
  • Holiday Times (1996)[57][33]
  • Songs Children Love To Sing (1996)[58][33]
  • Ella Jenkins and A Union of Friends Pulling Together (1999)[59]

2000s and 2010s

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  • Sharing Cultures With Ella Jenkins (2003)[60]
  • cELLAbration: A Tribute to Ella Jenkins (2004)[61][62][63]
  • A Life of Song (2011)[64][65]
  • Get Moving with Ella Jenkins (2013)[66]
  • 123s and ABCs (2014)[67]
  • More Multicultural Children's Songs (2014)[68][69]
  • Camp Songs with Ella Jenkins and Friends (2017)[70]

Filmography

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  • Ella Jenkins Live at the Smithsonian (1991)[52]
  • For the Family! (1991)[53]
  • cELLAbration Live! A Tribute to Ella Jenkins (2007)[71][72]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Ella Jenkins". Ellajenkins.com. July 29, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Graeber, Laurel (August 5, 2024). "How 100-Year-Old Ella Jenkins Revolutionized Children's Music". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  3. ^ "City of Chicago : Fifth Star Bios". chicago.gov. 2015. Archived from the original on May 16, 2019. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
  4. ^ Abramowitz, Sophie (August 6, 2024). "A Century of Ella Jenkins: Tributes to the First Lady of Children's Music". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  5. ^ Guarino, Mark (August 1, 2024). "Chicago is celebrating the 100th birthday of Ella Jenkins, musician and architect of a social movement". Wbez.org. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Peed, Mike (November 10, 2024). "Ella Jenkins, Musician Who Found an Audience in Children, Dies at 100". The New York Times. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Goldsmith, Peter David (1998). Making people's music: Moe Asch and Folkways records. Washington, D.C: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 278. ISBN 978-1-56098-812-0.
  8. ^ Shen, Aviva. "Meet Ella Jenkins, the "First Lady of Children's Music"". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c Ella Jenkins, interview with the author, May 10, 2007
  10. ^ "Ella Jenkins". The History Makers. August 5, 2002. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  11. ^ Limbong, Andrew (November 11, 2024). "Ella Jenkins, first lady of children's music, dies at 100". NPR.org. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  12. ^ Trotter, LeeAnn (November 10, 2024). "Legendary Chicago singer-songwriter Ella Jenkins passes away at 100". NBC Chicago. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  13. ^ "Artist: Ella Jenkins". Grammy.com. Recording Academy. n.d. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  14. ^ Patricia Sheehan Campbell, "Recording Reviews," Ethnomusicology, Vol.46, No. 2 (2002), jstor.org (accessed May 2, 2007), p.357.
  15. ^ Liner notes from Call-And-Response Rhythmic Group Singing, Ella Jenkins, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings SFW 45030, 1998, CD.
  16. ^ "Ella Jenkins Communicates With Children By Music". Sarasota Journal. May 2, 1973. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  17. ^ "42nd Annual Grammy® Awards Nominations Coverage (2000)". www.digitalhit.com. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  18. ^ "United States Artists Official Website". Archived from the original on November 10, 2010. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  19. ^ "City of Chicago: Fifth Star Honors". Chicago.gov. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
  20. ^ "NEA National Heritage Fellowships 2017". Arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  21. ^ "Ella Jenkins greeting 100th birthday with a biography storybook, Chicago celebrations". Chicago Sun-Times. August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  22. ^ "Ella Jenkins' 100th Birthday Party". Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  23. ^ "A Life of Song Celebrates Overlooked Activism of Ella Jenkins, the "Fi". Gloo Books. January 16, 2024. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  24. ^ "A Life of Song: The Story of Ella Jenkins". Gloo Books. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  25. ^ "Ella Jenkins greeting 100th birthday with a biography storybook, Chicago celebrations". Chicago Sun-Times. August 1, 2024. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  26. ^ "Call and Response". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  27. ^ "Adventures in Rhythm". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  28. ^ "African-American Folk Rhythms". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  29. ^ "This-A-Way, That-A-Way". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  30. ^ "This is Rhythm". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  31. ^ a b "Counting Games and Rhythms For the Little Ones". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  32. ^ a b "Song Rhythms and Chants for the Dance with Ella Jenkins; Interviews with "Dance People"". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  33. ^ a b c d e f Campbell, Patricia Shehan (2002). "Review of Counting Games and Rhythms for the Little Ones; Early, Early Childhood Songs, Ella Jenkins; Holiday Times, Ella Jenkins; Jambo and Other Call and Response Songs and Chants, Ella Jenkins; Songs Children Love to Sing, Ella Jenkins; Songs and Rhythms from Near and Far, Ella Jenkins". Ethnomusicology. 46 (2): 356–359. doi:10.2307/852796. ISSN 0014-1836.
  34. ^ "You'll Sing a Song and I'll Sing a Song". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  35. ^ "Play Your Instruments and Make a Pretty Sound". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  36. ^ "A Long Time". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  37. ^ "Rhythms of Childhood". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  38. ^ "Seasons for Singing". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  39. ^ "And One and Two". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  40. ^ "Smithsonian Folkways − Recording Details". Folkways.si.edu. Archived from the original on April 7, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  41. ^ "Little Johnny Brown with Ella Jenkins and Girls and Boys from "Uptown" (Chicago)". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  42. ^ "Nursery Rhymes: Rhyming & Remembering for Young Children & for Older Girls & Boys with Special Language Needs". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  43. ^ "Jambo and Other Call and Response Songs and Chants". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  44. ^ "Growing Up with Ella Jenkins: Rhythms, Songs, and Rhymes". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  45. ^ "Travellin' with Ella Jenkins: A Bilingual Journey". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  46. ^ "I Know the Colors in the Rainbow". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  47. ^ "Looking Back and Looking Forward". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  48. ^ "Early Early Childhood Songs". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  49. ^ "Hopping Around from Place to Place, Vol. 1". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  50. ^ "Hopping Around from Place to Place, Vol. 2". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  51. ^ "We Are America's Children". May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  52. ^ a b "Ella Jenkins Live at the Smithsonian (DVD)". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  53. ^ a b "For the Family! (DVD)". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  54. ^ "Come Dance By the Ocean". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  55. ^ "Multicultural Children's Songs". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  56. ^ Wald, Gayle (2019). ""It's Awfully Important to Listen": Ella Jenkins and Musical Multiculturalism". 104: 45–68. doi:10.7916/d8-g92d-q288. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  57. ^ "Holiday Times". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  58. ^ "Songs Children Love to Sing". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  59. ^ "Ella Jenkins and a Union of Friends Pulling Together". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  60. ^ "Sharing Cultures with Ella Jenkins and children from the LaSalle Language Academy of Chicago". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  61. ^ "cELLAbration: A Tribute to Ella Jenkins". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  62. ^ Campbell, Patricia Shehan (2012). "Review of cELLAbration! A Tribute to Ella Jenkins; Sharing Cultures with Ella Jenkins; Pete Seeger: Folk Songs for Young People; Tom Glazer Sings Honk-Hiss-Tweet-GGGGGGGGGG …. and Other Children's Favorites". Ethnomusicology. 56 (2): 350–352. doi:10.5406/ethnomusicology.56.2.0350. ISSN 0014-1836.
  63. ^ Bixler, Beverly (March 2005). "cELLAbration: a Tribute to Ella Jenkins". School Library Journal. 51 (3).
  64. ^ "African American Legacy Series: A Life of Song". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  65. ^ "New Ella Jenkins Album A Life of Song Available February 22". Smithsonian Folkways. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  66. ^ "Get Moving with Ella Jenkins". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  67. ^ "123s and ABCs". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  68. ^ "More Multicultural Songs From Ella Jenkins". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  69. ^ Walsh, Caitlyn (May 1, 2015). "More Multicultural Children's Songs from Ella Jenkins". School Library Journal. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  70. ^ "Camp Songs with Ella Jenkins & Friends". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  71. ^ "cELLAbration Live! A Tribute to Ella Jenkins (DVD)". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. May 28, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  72. ^ Bixler, Beverly (January 2008). "cELLAbration Live!: A Tribute to Ella Jenkins". School Library Journal. 54 (1).
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