100 years, 100 songs

100 years ago in 1924, Ella Jenkins, the children's folk music legend, was born. I first learned about Ella when I was working at the Old Town School of Folk Music on a temporary assignment to clear the rights to make 100 songs available for digital download from the OTS archives. I was a law clerk at the time for a boutique law firm in Chicago, Illinois, which was owned and operated by Tom Leavens, Peter Strand and Jerry Glover. OTS was one of their clients, so I was essentially seconded for the life of the project -- I would do 1/2 days at OTS and the other 1/2 at the law firm. I happened to live about 4 blocks away from the OTS offices in Lincoln Square, so I had the luxury of walking down the street to work each morning. And when I arrived, I was always treated to large groups of budding musicians of all ages plucking away at folk and blues standards.

Colby Maddox, the head of the Resource Center at OTS, shepherded me through the 100 song list, which also meant educating me on the work of several of the folk legends whose music we were licensing, including Mahalia Jackson, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, to name a few, and of course, Ella Jenkins.

Flash forward 14 years, and I had the privilege of playing Ella's music for my 18 month old daughter today in honor of Ella's life and passing this week. The richness and warmth in her voice, and her inclusive approach to children's music takes me right back to my time at OTS and the spirit of possibility that the community there embodied. I plan to continue playing Ella for my little one, and if you haven't yet, you will want to as well. To read more about Ella, her work and life, check out the NYT Obituary found here.

Below is an excerpt of Ella's song, "You Sing a Song and I'll Sing a Song"

"You'll sing a song and I'll sing a song

Then we'll sing a song together

You'll sing a song and I'll sing a song

In warm or wintry weather"