Discography
1950s
Call and Response: Rhythmic Group Singing
Jenkins explores rhythms of West African peoples on eight chants on this recording. Children accompany her on conga drums, wood blocks, and other instruments. Featured tracks include Moon Dont Go and Toom-bah-ee-lero. The enclosed notes shed light on the techniques of call and response and rhythmic group singing in African music.
Originally issued in 1957
Adventures in Rhythm
An engaging progression of simple to complex rhythmic concepts with young students in Jenkinss Rhythm Workshop. Appropriate for children with learning difficulties. Includes Caney Mi Macaro, Ive Been Working on the Railroad, Hambone, and more.
Originally issued in 1959
1960s
African-American Folk Rhythms
This compilation of inspiring songs celebrates the musical heritage of African Americans. The recording features simple work songs, rhythmic chants, and inspiring spirituals. Featured tracks include All Over This World, Did You Feed My Cow?, and Wade in the Water. Liner notes include biographical information on Jenkins and facts about the Goodwill Spiritual Choir of Chicago, who sing with Jenkins on some tracks.
Originally issued in 1960
Rhythms Of Childhood
Emphasizes rhythms found in nature, dance, and traditional African chants, using weals, guitar, banjo, baritone ukulele, harmonica, and drums. Includes Pretty Trees Around the World, The Cuckoo, Michael Row Your Boat Ashore, All Will Be Dancing, and Kum Ba Ya.
Originally issued in 1963
Songs And Rhythms From Near And Far
Traveling is the theme of this delightful recording.Through music, Ella Jenkins and her friends take us on a journey to many lands. They treat us to songs and dances and a variety of musical sounds and textures. Selected as Outstanding by Parent Council.
Previously issued in 1964 and 1992
Rhythm and Game Songs for the Little Ones
Jenkins guides nursery school children through simple, engaging rhythm exercises, encouraging them to vary Iyrics, tunes, and activities. Playful songs include Hop, Skip, Jump to My Lou; Teddy Bear; and Jack and Jill.
Originally issued in 1964.
Counting Games and Rhythms For the Little Ones
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 the easy-to-follow, enjoyable activity songs. Classic counting songs include One Potato, Two Potato and One, Two, Buckle My Shoe.
Originally issued in 1964
You'll Sing a Song and I'll Sing a Song
Jenkins’s best-selling record has international songs that encourage singing and rhythmic participation. Recommended for early education by Teachers Magazine. Did You Feed My Cow?, This Train, Sifting in the Sand, Cadima, Shabbat Shalom, and others.
Originally issued in 1966
Play Your Instruments and Make a Pretty Sound
Jenkins encourages children to play rhythm instruments, whether provided by the teacher or homemade using directions included in liner notes. After she sings Put Your Instruments Away, a jazz band introduces the trombone, clarinet, drum, trumpet, etc. Ten songs include Follow the Leader, Let’s Listen to the Band, and Harmonica Happiness.
Originally issued in 1968
A Long Time to Freedom
Adaptations of age-old African American traditions, songs sung on the long road toward freedom. Also features Jenkins singing with Brother John Sellers, Joseph Brewer, and Guy Guilbert. An album for adults as well as children.
Originally issued in 1969
1970s
Seasons for Singing
A call-and-response session recorded live at a music workshop. Features original and traditional songs from around the world, such as This Train, On a Holiday, and You Look So Sweet.
Originally issued in 1970
And One and Two
Simple songs and rhythm exercises for young children, including I’m Going to School Today, Rhythms around the Chair, and Holiday Times.
Originally issued in 1971
My Street Begins At My House
Jenkins’s salute to a child’s own neighborhood experience. Songs and rhythmic activities recorded on Jenkins’s TV series, “The Me-Too Show.”
Originally issued in 1971
Little Johnny Brown
Heartwarming folk songs recorded with children ages 5-10. What’s Your Name?, He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands, The Children’s Librarian, Freedom Train, Mexican Hand Clapping Chant, and more.
Originally issued in 1971
This-A-Way, That-A-Way
Cheerful songs and chants recorded with children from Tennessee. 13 original and traditional songs invite children to participate: Please Is a Pleasant Expression teaches “please” in many languages, while I Like the Way They Stack the Hay is a farm counting song. Jenkins plays ukulele, fiddle, guitar, and kazoo on songs including Miss Mary Mack and The Cuckoo Bird.
Originally issued in 1973
Jambo and Other Call and Response Songs and Chants
Twelve of Jenkins’s call-and-response songs with simple rhythmic sounds and Iyrics in English and Swahili. Inspired by music of communities and Jenkins’s experiences in Kenya and Tanzania. Includes On Safari, Counting in Swahili, and Yemayah.
Originally issued in 1974
Nursery Rhymes: Rhyming & Remembering for Young Children & for Older Girls & Boys with Special Language Needs
Jenkins encourages group participation by suggesting Iyrics and activities while she sings 22 favorite nursery rhymes. Includes The Muffin Man, Hey Diddle Diddle, Sing a Song of Sixpence, and Little Bo Peep.
Originally issued in 1974
We Are America’s Children
In this U.S. Bicentennial album, Jenkins and a children’s chorus celebrate America’s diversity and history in folk songs, blues, hymns, and civil rights and historic songs. We Are Native American Tribes, Ezekiel Saw the Wheel, Ol’ Texas, This Land Is Your Land, In 1776, Happy Birthday Dear America, and more.
Originally issued in 1976
Growing Up with Ella Jenkins
Nursery school children join Jenkins in a 20-song collection. Includes Little Orphan Annie, I’m Changing, and Hickory Dickory Dock. Teachers’ Choice Award, New York City.
Originally issued in 1976
Songs, Rhythms & Chants For The Dance
Jenkins sings originals, blues, and international folk songs and interviews dance professionals to present dance-rhythm concepts. Includes A New Day’s Coming Soon, Plenty Good Room, That’s the Way Things Are, and I Climbed a Mountain.
Originally issued in 1977
Travelling With Ella
Jenkins and friends sing international songs, including Hukilu (Hawai’i), A Yodeling Song (Switzerland), and Que Bonita Bandera (Puerto Rico).
Originally issued in 1979
1980s
I Know the Colors in the Rainbow
In concert with a "rainbow" of children from the St. Vincent De Paul Center of Chicago. Ella creates a listening and participation album that will stimulate your children and learn about voice tones, colors, instruments and their individual sounds, other languages, appreciation for other cultures, and a knowledge of farm life choices. Includes I Know The Colors Of The Rainbow; It Won't Rain, It Won't Rain; Who Fed The Chickens?; Kaluba, Beat The Drum; and many more.
Originally issued in 1981
Looking Back and Looking Forward
Looking Back at Ella's childhood and looking forward to Spring. A listening and participation album exploring the sounds of rope jumping, spinning tops, playing jacks, marbles, and other Springtime activities. An excellent way to familiarize your children with games of the past that can be fun to play today! Includes Icre Cream Soda; Scooping Up Jacks, Shooting Marbles; Spinning Tops; How Long Will The Top Spin?; Counting From One To Ten In Spanish; We'll Go A-Sailing; Everybody Clap Your Hands; and many more.
Originally issued in 1981
Early Early Childhood Songs
Eight favorites performed with nursery school children. Features melodies performed on folk instruments followed by playful group exercises for melody recognition. Includes Mary Had a Little Lamb, Farmer in the Dell, and Skip to My Lou.
Originally issued in 1982
Hopping Around from Place to Place, Vol. 1
Ella with The Chicago Children's Choir. Travel with Ella Jenkins to many cities, states, countries and cultures. Rhrymes and songs with vibrant rhythms will inspire children and keep them interested and alert as they "hop from place to place." Includes The Little Green Frog That Sits By The Stream; I Think I'll Go To Oregon; My Echo; If You Go To London Town; I Know A City Called Okeechobee; and many more.
Originally issued in 1983
Hopping Around from Place to Place, Vol. 2
Travel with Ella from place to place -- the delightful musical tour continues with Ella and the children. Includes My Name Is Eddie Laveen; Texas Is The Lone Star State; I'm Going Home; The Australian Zoo; I'm Going To Buffalo; Let's Go Up In Space; and many more.
Originally issued in 1983
1990s
Come Dance By the Ocean
Songs dedicated to caring for the environmen and appreciating other cultures, languages, and places. Includes You Can’t Sink a Rainbow and A Solution to Pollution. Parents’ Choice Award winner.
Recorded in 1990
Ella Jenkins Live at the Smithsonian (DVD)
Jenkins entertains with playful songs and stories. Fosters listening skills, concentration, and imagination while encouraging viewers to sing and dance. Splendid performances of Did You Feed My Cow?, Stop and Go, Shake Hands with Friends, and others. Winner of Parents’ Choice Award and Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award.
For the Family! (DVD)
This video, rated “Best of Genre” by the All-Music Guide, features Jenkins on harmonica, vocals, and guitar, teaching and entertaining her young audience, communicating one-on-one. Includes May-ree Mack, Freight Train Blues, and Tah-Boo
This is Rhythm
Twelve songs that introduce basic rhythm instruments—wood and tone blocks, rhythm sticks, conga drums, maracas, and more—and teach youngsters to hear rhythms in everyday sounds. Includes Little Red Caboose, O Where O Where Has My Little Dog Gone?, Mexican Hand Clapping Song, and others.
See companion songbook below
This is Rhythm (Illustrated Songbook)
Lyrics and rhymes are vibrantly printed in varying shades of color to help children learn how loudly or softly to sing and play. Teaches that rhythm is a basic element of music, speech, and sounds worldwide and encourages active participation. Paperback. 96 pages.
Holiday Times
An all-new recording featuring 26 songs, poems, and stories related to winter holidays. Jenkins and friends sing and play ukulele, harmonica, guitar, pipe organ, flute, and percussion for a festive multi-cultural holiday season.
Songs Children Love To Sing
An anthology of earlier recordings celebrating Jenkins’s 40 years of recording for Folkways Records and Smithsonian Folkways. Jenkins selected 17 songs that are especially popular with children from the hundreds she has recorded for Folkways since 1956.
Ella Jenkins And A Union Of Friends
Jenkins and a group of young and older musical friends introduce children to the ideas of collaborative effort through all new songs, recitation, and poetry.This Grammy-nominated recording features harmonica, piano, percussion, banjo, guitar, vocals, and chorus. Songs include Union Meeting, Working Together, Solidarity Forever, and Union Train. Booklet contains Iyrics and discography.
2000s
Sharing Cultures with Ella Jenkins and children from the LaSalle Language Academy of Chicago
On ‘Sharing Cultures,’ Jenkins and a group of children from the LaSalle Language Academy of Chicago perform songs from a diverse list of nations and cultures, including Mexico, Ireland, Turkey, Russia, and more, celebrating their languages and traditions.
2010s
Ella Jenkins: A Life of Song
In A Life of Song, Ella Jenkins, “The First Lady of Children’s Music,” offers stories and songs that speak to her youthful years as an African American child in a multi-cultural world. Her career of more than a half century earned her the first Lifetime Achievement Grammy award for a children’s music artist, and her more than thirty recordings teach us to learn from one another while taking pride in our own heritage. This African American Legacy recording of Ella singing with children from the Cool Classics after-school program spotlights her own heritage while showing her delight for the traditions of others. 36 minutes, lyrics, photos, 28-page booklet.
This recording is the sixth release in the Smithsonian Folkways African American Legacy Series, co-presented with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Get Moving with Ella Jenkins
Ella Jenkins wears the title given her by many of her fans, “The First Lady of Children’s Music,” with tremendous energy. Now in her ninth decade, she continues to encourage young children to hop, skip, jump, clap, dance, and be active through song. Get Moving with Ella Jenkins showcases the absolute finest recordings incorporating movement and play by a true pioneer of children’s music. Drawn from many recordings created during her legendary career, these songs demonstrate Ella’s genius as both a music educator and children's entertainer. 46 minutes, 36-page booklet with lyrics.
123s and ABCs
Ella Jenkins: 123s and ABCs distills the genius of America’s “First Lady of Children’s Music” into 16 tracks teaching counting and the alphabet in multiple languages. Ella’s joyful engagement, delight in music and game-playing, and deep respect for children of all backgrounds, all make this a classic recording for and with young children. 31 minutes, 28-page booklet with song lyrics.
More Multicultural Songs From Ella Jenkins
No Smithsonian Folkways release has been more popular than the 1995 album Multicultural Children’s Songs, a selection of Ella Jenkins’ favorite melodies she learned from cultures around the world. Now, Folkways brings you More Multicultural Children’s Songs from Ella Jenkins, 20 additional classics from The First Lady of Children’s Music’s prolific work. Multilingual, multicultural, and multi-national, this collection of timeless tracks inspires respect and rejoicing in the traditions of others. 44 minutes, 20 page booklet with lyrics.
Camp Songs with Ella Jenkins & Friends
Renowned children’s performer Ella Jenkins has vivid memories of singing at summer camps, and if you were a camper, you must too! She and her friends invite you to share those experiences and celebrate her 60 years as a Folkways artist with this recording. Ella assembled a group of children, parents, and teachers from the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, along with Tony and Kate Seeger from Camp Killooleet, to sing these classic camp songs, rounds, silly songs, and campfire sing-alongs with you. Move along with them and make them your own! Most of all, have fun! 62 minutes, 36-page booklet with song lyrics included.