Beth Blenz-Clucas blogs about music for kids that grownups will love too
When the “First Lady of Children’s Music” sings, people don’t just listen, they participate. With her simple call-and-response approach, Ella Jenkins can bring a crowd of children and adults to their feet, singing and dancing together. Many of the recordings over her 50-year career feature African American spirituals, including “Wade in the Water” from her 1960 album African American Folk Rhythms. The song, straight out of Exodus, once provided a coded message to slaves traveling via the Underground Railroad. Today, anyone singing it along with Ella can feel the song’s power.
Now well into her 80s, Ella continues to inspire and delight children and educators. One of the original artists on the Folkways label, Ella will soon release a new recording, A Life of Song.
