Chicago is celebrating the 100th birthday of Ella Jenkins, musician and architect of a social moveme

WBEZChicago / by Mark Guarino / August 1, 2024

For most people, the image of a rock star involves leather, steel and a background of smoke, strobe lights and pyrotechnics.

In the world of children’s music, however, the genre’s preeminent rock star is Ella Jenkins, a soft-spoken but wonderfully charming performer and educator who turns 100 next Tuesday. Across her 67-year career, Jenkins firmly established the genre of children’s music as a serious endeavor — not just for artists to pursue but also for the recording industry to embrace and promote.

Her spectacle, Chicago-based children’s music songwriter and performer Justin Roberts said, is simply a radiant presence. Roberts recalled his five-member rock band opening for Jenkins at a book festival.

“And then Ella got onstage just with her baritone ukulele, and you could hear a pin drop,” Roberts said. “I remember thinking, ‘That is pure charisma.’ ” Read More Here