Arthur Eugene Jenkins, Jr. (December 7, 1936 – January 28, 2009) was an American keyboardist, composer, arranger and percussionist who worked with many popular music icons such as

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an internat ...

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

and Chaka Khan. Jenkins was born in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

, New York, and began playing piano at the age of 5. After studying music at Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio, Jenkins returned to New York and began his professional career. He played for two years at a club called Blue Moracco. The first year was with a singer named Irene Reid and the second was with a new singer from Ohio named Nancy Wilson. Next began a 9-year collaboration as musical director and accompanist to singer

Johnny Nash John Lester Nash Jr. (August 19, 1940October 6, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter, best known in the United States for his 1972 hit "I Can See Clearly Now". Primarily a reggae and pop singer, he was one of the first non-Jamaican artists t ...

, which included Nash's 1972 smash "

I Can See Clearly Now "I Can See Clearly Now" is a song written and recorded by American singer Johnny Nash. It was the lead single from his album ''I Can See Clearly Now'' and achieved success in the United States and the United Kingdom when it was released in 197 ...

". While with Nash, Jenkins traveled to Jamaica where he also worked on recording projects with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. Jenkins had now become a much sought-after studio musician, and soon was the arranger for Harry Belafonte, with whom he also recorded and toured. He worked in the same capacity for

Patti Austin Patti Austin (born August 10, 1950) is an American R&B, pop, and jazz singer and songwriter. Music career Austin was born in Harlem, New York, to Gordon Austin, a jazz trombonist. She was raised in Bay Shore, New York on Long Island. Quincy ...

and

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

, who were co-performers on Belafonte's tours. Jenkins then joined Antisia Publishing (co-owned by

Ralph MacDonald Ralph Anthony MacDonald (March 15, 1944 – December 18, 2011) was a Trinbagonian-American percussionist, songwriter, musical arranger, record producer, steelpan virtuoso and philanthropist. His compositions include "Where Is the Love", a Gramm ...

and William Salter), and forged a lifelong friendship and musical partnership with MacDonald, which led to more hit recordings like " The Hustle" with

Van McCoy Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an American musician, record producer, arranger, songwriter, singer and orchestra conductor. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful song " The Hustle". He has approxima ...

, "

Where Is the Love "Where Is the Love?" is a song by American hip hop group the Black Eyed Peas. It was released on May 12, 2003, as the lead single from their third album, ''Elephunk''. The song was written by will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, Justin Timberlake, Pr ...

" with

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles " The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", " Killing Me Softly with His Song", " Feel Like Makin' Love", " W ...

and

Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto", "This Christmas ...

and " Just The Two of Us" with

Grover Washington Jr. Grover Washington Jr. (December 12, 1943 – December 17, 1999) was an American jazz-funk and soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with Wes Montgomery and George Benson, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre. ...

and

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He had several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), " Use Me" (1972) ...

. Jenkins was brought to the attention of John Lennon by

May Pang May Fung Yee Pang (born October 24, 1950) is an American former music executive. She worked for John Lennon and Yoko Ono as a personal assistant and production coordinator, and when Lennon and Ono separated in 1973, Pang and Lennon began a r ...

, production coordinator for many albums by Lennon and

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

. Pang booked Jenkins for Ono's '' Feeling The Space'' album, and Lennon, who was about to record his ''

Mind Games Playing mind games (also power games or head games) is the largely conscious struggle for psychological one-upmanship, often employing passive–aggressive behavior to specifically demoralize or dis-empower the thinking subject, making the ...

'' album, asked Pang to retain him for that session. Jenkins played on all subsequent Lennon albums, including ''

Walls and Bridges ''Walls and Bridges'' is the fifth studio album by English musician John Lennon. It was issued by Apple Records on 26 September 1974 in the United States and on 4 October in the United Kingdom. Written, recorded and released during his 18-month ...

'' (for which he was awarded an RIAA gold record), ''

Double Fantasy ''Double Fantasy'' is the fifth album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, released in November 1980 on Geffen Records. Produced by Lennon, Ono and Jack Douglas, it was the seventh and final studio album released by Lennon during his lifetime. The al ...

'' and the posthumous '' Milk and Honey''. Lennon would jokingly credit Jenkins for "all the bells and whistles" on his records. Jenkins also worked on

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...

and lent his distinctive sounds to popular commercials for

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold ...

Chemical Bank Chemical Bank was a bank with headquarters in New York City from 1824 until 1996. At the end of 1995, Chemical was the third-largest bank in the U.S., with about $182.9 billion in assets and more than 39,000 employees around the world. Beginning ...

and other products. He also released two CDs of his own material, ''Alone With Arthur'' and ''Alone With Arthur Again''. Jenkins died unexpectedly at his Manhattan apartment, aged 73.

Discography

Jenkins began his recording career in 1965 with the ''Latin Soul'' album by The Latin Jazz Quintet, and has over a hundred credits to his name. * For a more complete discography, check out this site : https://www.discogs.com/fr/artist/295134-Arthur-Jenkins?page=1 With Dizzy Gillespie,

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as ...

Sonny Stitt Edward Hammond Boatner Jr. (February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982), known professionally as Sonny Stitt, was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/ hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of hi ...

*'' Sonny Side Up'' (Verve, 1957) With Ronnie Foster *'' Two Headed Freap'' (Blue Note, 1972) With

Marlena Shaw Marlena Shaw (born Marlina Burgess, September 22, 1942) is an American jazz, blues and soul singer. Shaw began her singing career in the 1960s and is still singing today. Her music has often been sampled in hip hop music, and used in televisio ...

*'' From the Depths of My Soul'' (1973) With

*''

'' (Apple records, 1974) *'' Roots: John Lennon Sings the Great Rock & Roll Hits'' (Adam VIII, 1975) *''

Rock 'n' Roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

'' (Apple, 1975) *''

'' (Geffen, 1980) *'' Milk and Honey'' (Geffen, 1984) With

*'' Feeling the Space'' (Apple, 1975) *'' Season of Glass'' (Geffen, 1981) *''

A Story ''A Story'' is an album by Yoko Ono, recorded in 1974, during the "lost weekend" sessions in which John Lennon produced '' Walls and Bridges''. It was unreleased until the 1992 box set '' Onobox'', which featured material from ''A Story'' on d ...

'' (Rykodisc, 1997) With

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded n ...

*''

Anything Goes ''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap ...

'' (Kudu, 1975) With

Rahsaan Roland Kirk Rahsaan Roland Kirk (born Ronald Theodore Kirk; August 7, 1935Kernfeld, Barry.Kirk, Roland" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd ed. Ed. Barry Kernfeld. ''Grove Music Online''. ''Oxford Music Online''. Retrieved February 1, 2009-. "The year ...

*'' The Case of the 3 Sided Dream in Audio Color'' (1975) *'' Other Folks' Music'' (1976) With

David "Fathead" Newman David "Fathead" Newman (February 24, 1933 – January 20, 2009) was an American jazz and Rhythm and blues, rhythm-and-blues saxophonist, who made numerous recordings as a session musician and leader, but is best known for his work as a sideman on ...

*'' Mr. Fathead'' (Warner Bros., 1976) With Chaka Khan *'' Chaka'' (Warner Bros,1978) *'' Naughty'' - (Warner Bros, 1980) Also plays clavinet and electric piano

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Arthur 1936 births 2009 deaths American jazz percussionists Singer-songwriters from New York (state) African-American songwriters American male conductors (music) African-American pianists American pop pianists American male pianists Rhythm and blues pianists American male organists American soul keyboardists American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Musicians from the Bronx American session musicians Plastic Ono Band members Conga players Bongo players Triangle players Maracas players Tambourine players Güiro players Timbaleros Jazz musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American conductors (music) American male jazz musicians 20th-century American keyboardists 20th-century American male musicians