Ella Jenkins

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Ella Jenkins (born August 6, 1924 in St. Louis , Missouri ) is an American musician from the field of children's music, who has become known as the "First Lady of Children's Music".

biography

Ella Jenkins grew up in Chicago and moved to California in 1948 . When she happened to approach children in a leisure facility and gave them tips on playing table tennis, she was noticed by the operator of the recreation center and hired. She also received a bachelor's degree in sociology from San Francisco State College . In 1951 she returned to Chicago and worked as an organizer for the YWCA .

At one of her events, she got an invitation for the children's television program The Totem Club . There she became a regular guest and began to compose her own songs. When Moses Asch from Folkways Recordings offered her to publish her songs on record, she quit YWCA and became a professional musician. Her debut album Call and Response: Rhythmic Group Singing was released in 1957.

In over 50 years Ella Jenkins has released around 30 albums with children's songs, which also deal with the upbringing and instruction of children. Her best-known album is You'll Sing a Song and I'll Sing a Song from 1966. She performed at concerts and events and made music with the ukulele and harmonica until old age. She brings together music from all seven continents and developed a typical call and response pattern in her songs . She also ran courses called Adventures in Rhythm , in which she shared her experiences with building children's music with other music educators.

Ella Jenkins has received numerous awards and honored for her work. In 2004 she was the only artist to date in the field of children's music to receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her life's work from the Association of the American Music Industry.

Single receipts

  1. ↑ Ella Jenkins Biography , Warren Truitt, About.com
  2. ↑ Ella Jenkins - National Visionary , biography at the National Visionary Leadership Project

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Jenkins, Ella
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American folk musician
DATE OF BIRTH August 6, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Louis , Missouri , USA