Jack Norton is an American filmmaker, television producer, musician, songwriter, and author. He is the director of the 2015 film Jug Band Hokum. He is best known as the co-creator of the Emmy Award-winning preschool television show and brand, (The Zinghoppers). He co-directed and co-starred in the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

show, "Totally, Zinghoppers!" Norton is of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and French descent. He grew up in a musical family. His babysitter was Tiny Tim, who gave Norton his first ukulele. Blues singer

Leon Redbone Leon Redbone (born Dickran Gobalian; August 26, 1949 – May 30, 2019) was a singer-songwriter and musician specializing in jazz, blues, and Tin Pan Alley classics. Recognized by his hat (often a Panama hat), dark sunglasses, and black tie, Re ...

taught Norton how to play guitar and authors

Nick Tosches Nicholas P. Tosches (; October 23, 1949 – October 20, 2019) was an American journalist, novelist, biographer, and poet. His 1982 biography of Jerry Lee Lewis, '' Hellfire'', was praised by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as "the best rock and roll ...

and

Hubert Selby, Jr. Hubert "Cubby" Selby Jr. (July 23, 1928 – April 26, 2004) was an American writer. Two of his novels, ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' (1964) and ''Requiem for a Dream'' (1978) explore worlds in the New York area and were adapted as films, both of whi ...

were family friends. After high school, Norton studied

Early Childhood Education Early childhood education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of education theory that relates to the teaching of children (formally and informally) from birth up to the age of eight. Traditionally, this is up to the equival ...

and his experience as a preschool teacher helped form the educational principals found in the Zinghoppers music. Norton's senior thesis (entitled, "The Childhood Dignity Movement"), helped form the Zinghoppers core goals of "educating, entertaining and engaging" young children. While in college, Norton's love of hip-hop culture and dance music led him to attend raves and underground rap house parties. Electro, hip-hop, Disney pop and

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded da ...

serves as the basis of Norton's musical influences. The Nortons moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

in 2009 to begin production of "Totally, Zinghoppers!", a series for public television. In 2015 Norton announced his directorial debut with Jug Band Hokum, a documentary film that stars Brooklynd Turner and Anne Baggenstoss and follows the lives of band members competing in the Minneapolis Annual Battle of the Jug Bands. Guests appearing in the film include Garrison Keillor (of

Prairie Home Companion Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

fame), Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and others. In 2017 it was announced Norton's next film will be ''Infinite Chaos'', a feature-length horror film. Four songs written and performed by Jack Norton and Kitty Norton are included in

The Florida Project ''The Florida Project'' is a 2017 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Sean Baker and written by Baker and Chris Bergoch. It stars Willem Dafoe, Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Valeria Cotto, Christopher Rivera, and Caleb Landry Jon ...

a 2017 film by Sean Baker. Jack's work as a musicologist and historian has led him to publish biographies on Emmett Miller, Freddie Fisher ( Schnickelfritz) and Stan Fritts of the Korn Kobblers. His work "Cornstars: Rube Music In Swing Time" earned the prestigious Certificate of Merit for “Best Historical Research in Recorded Popular Music” from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections. Norton's best-selling series, "Dirty Little Comics" is a pictorial history of Tijuana bibles and

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

adult comics from the 1920s through the 1950s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Jack (conductor) American children's musicians Living people Musicians from Los Angeles Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)