With a career that has spanned generations, Jenkins, 86, still loves performing for kids. The legendary singer-songwriter talks about the blues, her early life in Chicago and the children she sings to.

At the start of the 1970s, Ella Jenkins released A Long Time to Freedom, an album made for all ages but geared toward adult listeners. In the album, she adapts long-established, historically significant Black gospel songs, spirituals, and blues songs collected from the churches, jukeboxes, and record stores of her youth. Songs including "I'm Gonna Tell God All My Troubles" and "How High's the Water" reflect her active role in the ongoing struggle for Black liberation in mid-century America. Joining Ella are her accompanists Brother John Sellers, who learned to sing in churches and collaborated with Northern blues legends, and Joseph Brewer, who enjoyed a career participating in world-famous symphonies and operas, representing the changing makeup of traditionally exclusionary musical spaces.

Ella guides nursery school children through simple, engaging rhythm exercises, encouraging them to vary lyrics, tunes, and activities. Playful songs include Hop, Skip, Jump to My Lou; Teddy Bear; and Jack and Jill.

Official website for Smithsonian Folkways artist Ella Jenkins.

Camp Songs von Ella Jenkins

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Celebrate her birthday with her latest, a compilation of children's songs from around the world

For generations, singer-storyteller Ella Jenkins has captivated audiences young and old with her educational, engaging songs for children of many cultural backgrounds. This recording captures Ella Jenkins and children from the Mary Crane Day Care Center performing a collections of songs, chants, ...

Ella compiled 23 tracks from 12 previous records focusing on multicultural themes. Booklet includes lyrics and a discography plus notes written by Ella. In Trinidad, Dance Tunes from Many Lands, Thank You in Many Languages, and more. "A treasure trove of rhythm, rhyme and heart." —Los Angeles ...

Now available on compact disc, this collection exemplifies Ella Jenkins’s skill at teaching children basic concepts through songs and games. Memory, a sense of rhythm, coordination, and vocal expression are all exercised in these simple, enjoyable activity songs. Classic counting songs include One

Case Study #4: The Little Scottish Footstool

Brian Wildsmith's Circus Brian Wildsmith ~ Franklin Watts, 1970 Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday, but motherhood got the best of ...

There are dozens of songs based on Frere Jacques, and these are the ones I’d be most likely to use at storytime. Click the titles to see my sources, and stay tuned for a couple related felt s…