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Ella Jenkins (born August 6, 1924) is an American folk singer. Events 1538 - Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Dubbed “The First Lady of the Children’s Folk Song” by the Wisconsin State Journal, Jenkins has been a leading performer of children’s music for fifty years. The Wisconsin State Journal is a daily newspaper published in Madison Wisconsin by Capital Newspapers. [1]

Contents

Family and personal life

Ella Jenkins was born in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in predominantly lower middle-class neighborhoods in the south side of Chicago. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Although she received no formal musical training, she benefited from her rich musical surroundings. Her brother brought home Boy Scout songs, and her Uncle Flood introduced her to the harmonica and the blues of such renowned musicians as T-Bone Walker, Memphis Slim and Big Bill Broonzy. Aaron Thibeaux Walker or T-Bone Walker or Oak Cliff T-Bone ( May 26 1910 — March 15 1975 Walker's recording John "Memphis Slim" Chatman (born September 3, 1915, Memphis, Tennessee; died February 24, 1988, in Big Bill Broonzy ( 26 June 1898 &ndash 14 August 1958) was a prolific American Blues Singer, songwriter Her family frequently moved around the south side and, as she moved to different neighborhoods, she learned new children’s rhythms, rhymes and games. [2] As neighborhood churches broadcast their services onto the street, Gospel music was a part of her soundscape. [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. Cabell "Cab" Calloway III ( December 25, 1907 &ndash November 18, 1994) was a famous American Jazz Singer William "Count" Basie ( August 21, 1904 &ndash April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, Organist While attending Wilson Junior College, she became interested in the music of other cultures through her Mexican, Cuban and Puerto Rican friends. [2] In 1951, she earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in Sociology with minors in Child Psychology and Recreation from San Francisco State University. San Francisco State University (informally referred to as San Francisco State, SF State, State and SFSU) is a public University [1] She began writing songs for children while working in recreation centers and as a song leader for camp groups. [1]

Career

After graduating from San Francisco State University, Jenkins moved back to Chicago and was hired as a Teenage Program Director for the YWCA in 1952. For other uses see Young Women's Christian Association The World YWCA is the umbrella organization of the global network of the YWCA - a movement of women working for 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. [2]

In 1956, Jenkins decided to become a full-time freelance musician, a vocation she has pursued for over 50 years. 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. As she performed in more varied venues, she began to write music about her experiences. Later that year, a friend recommended that she bring a demo tape to Moses Asch, the founder of Folkways Records. Moses ("Moe" Asch (born December 2, 1905, Warsaw; died October 19, 1986, New York City) was the founder Folkways Records is a Record label that documents folk and world music Asch was receptive to her music and in 1957, Jenkins' first album, Call-And-Response: Rhythmic Group Singing, was released by Folkways. Since then, she has recorded 29 other albums for Folkways Records and, more recently, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings including the popular You’ll Sing a Song and I’ll Sing a Song. Folkways Records is a Record label that documents folk and world music You’ll Sing a Song and I’ll Sing a Song is an album by Folk singer Ella Jenkins. She has not only been an important force in children’s lives, but also has taught her approach to working with children to parents and fellow music educators. She has participated in many conferences on music education, and has offered workshops for music educators, parents, and caregivers all over the world.

As a performer and educator, Jenkins has traveled extensively, performing her songs on all seven continents (even Antarctica). As she travels, she not only shares her music and experiences but also learns about the cultures of the people she is visiting, taking with her musical traditions and language that she then shares with her audiences. She has also made television appearances on shows including NBC’s Today Show, CNN's Showbiz Today, and PBS programs such as Barney and Friends, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, The Me Too Show, Look at Me, and in films shown on Sesame Street. Today, also referred to as The Today Show, is an American morning news and talk show airing weekday mornings on NBC. The Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) is a Non-profit Public broadcasting Television service with 354 member TV stations in the Barney & Friends is a 1992 children's television show produced in the United States aimed at preschool children Mister Rogers' Neighborhood or Mister Rogers is an American Children's television series that was created and hosted by Sesame Street is an American educational Children's television series and a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard combining 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 has acted as a U. The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (on the building itself called the John F S. delegate to Hong Kong, the People’s Republic of China, and the former Soviet Union. [1]

As a recording artist, Jenkins has gained extensive recognition. Her recordings have received Parents’ Choice awards and GRAMMY nominations in the category of Best Musical Album for Children. The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards)—or Grammys —are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children has been awarded since 1994 In 2004, she was recognized with a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award.

As an educator

Jenkins' favorite people are children. She sees them as genuine, down to earth people who should be listened to and recognized as having much to offer. Fellow music educator, Patricia Sheehan Campbell, lauds Jenkins 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. ”[3] Through her songs, she hopes to develop greater intercultural understanding and rhythmic-consciousness, and to help people discover the joy of singing and communicating through active participation in songs.

Her repertoire includes nursery rhymes, holiday songs, bilingual songs, African-American folk songs, international songs, rhythmic chants, and original songs. Drawing from cultures all over the world, Jenkins sings in many languages, exposing her audiences to diverse cultures and promoting greater cultural awareness.

Through her style of call-and-response singing, Jenkins promotes group participation. Call and response is a form of "spontaneous verbal and non-verbal interaction between speaker and listener in which all of the statements ('calls' are punctuated by expressions ('responses' Found in cultures worldwide, from Greece to the Middle East to West Africa, call-and-response singing involves a leader or leaders singing a phrase and the rest of the participants commenting or responding with another phrase. [4] Using this technique, she breaks the barrier between audience and performer, and turns everyone into a performer. By encouraging active participation, she promotes the development of a warm group feeling, cooperation among the participants, greater attentiveness, an enjoyment of singing, and a desire to sing. She also encourages children to lead songs, make up their own variations of songs, and experiment with fun and silly sounds. This allows children to think independently, develop leadership skills, and improvise, resulting in increased self-confidence.

In helping children discover music and participate in its creation, Jenkins provides them with a new tool of communication that they can use and enjoy for the rest of their lives.

Awards

Discography

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Ella Jenkins, "Ella Jenkins and Adventures in Rhythm", http://www.ellajenkins.com
  2. ^ a b c Ella Jenkins, interview with the author, May 10, 2007
  3. ^ Patricia Sheehan Campbell, “Recording Reviews,” Ethnomusicology, Vol. 46, No. 2 (2002), jstor. org (accessed May 2, 2007), p. 357.
  4. ^ Liner notes from Call-And-Response Rhythmic Group Singing, Ella Jenkins, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings SFW 45030, 1998, CD.

External links

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