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 activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

and

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

. Jenkins was born in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, 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 Irene Reid (September 23, 1930 – January 5, 2008) was an American jazz singer. Early life Reid was born and raised in Savannah, Georgia. She sang in church and in high school in Georgia, and moved to New York City in 1947 after her mother d ...

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 and 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 art ...

, 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-songwriter Johnny Nash. It was the lead single from his twelfth album, ''I Can See Clearly Now'' (1972), and achieved success in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

". While with Nash, Jenkins traveled to Jamaica where he also worked on recording projects with Bob Marley and

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band Bob Marley and the Wa ...

. 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 and

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

, who were co-performers on Belafonte's tours. Jenkins then joined Antisia Publishing (co-owned by Ralph MacDonald 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, " Where Is the Love" with

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...

and

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

and " Just The Two of Us" with Grover Washington Jr. and

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

. Jenkins was brought to the attention of John Lennon by May Pang, production coordinator for many albums by Lennon and

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; 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 in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

. Pang booked Jenkins for Ono's ''

Feeling The Space ''Feeling the Space'' is the fourth solo album by Yoko Ono, released in 1973. It was her last one to be released on Apple Records. History The entire album adopts a feminist theme, focusing on issues affecting women in the 1970s. Its liner no ...

'' album, and Lennon, who was about to record his ''

Mind Games Mind games (also power games or head games) are actions performed for reasons of psychological one-upmanship, often employing passive–aggressive behavior to specifically demoralize or dis-empower the thinking subject, making the aggressor ...

'' album, asked Pang to retain him for that session. Jenkins played on all subsequent Lennon albums, including '' Walls and Bridges'' (for which he was awarded an RIAA gold record), ''

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

'', '' Double Fantasy'' 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#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...

and lent his distinctive sounds to popular commercials for

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

Chemical Bank Chemical Bank, headquartered in New York City, was the principal operating subsidiary of Chemical Banking Corporation, a bank holding company. In 1996, it acquired Chase Bank, adopted the Chase name, and became the largest bank in the United Stat ...

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 John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

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

Sonny Stitt Sonny Stitt (born Edward Hammond Boatner Jr.; February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982) 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 his era, recording over ...

*'' Sonny Side Up'' (Verve, 1957) With

Ronnie Foster Ronnie Foster (born May 12, 1950) is an American funk and soul jazz organist, and record producer. His albums recorded for Blue Note Records in the 1970s have gained a cult following after the emergence of acid jazz. Early life Foster was born ...

*'' Two Headed Freap'' (Blue Note, 1972) With Marlena Shaw *'' From the Depths of My Soul'' (1973) With

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

'' (Apple, 1975) *'' Double Fantasy'' (Geffen, 1980) *'' Milk and Honey'' (Geffen, 1984) With

*''

Feeling the Space ''Feeling the Space'' is the fourth solo album by Yoko Ono, released in 1973. It was her last one to be released on Apple Records. History The entire album adopts a feminist theme, focusing on issues affecting women in the 1970s. Its liner no ...

'' (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 ...

'' (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 Cello, cellist who has reco ...

*''

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, revised considerably by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madc ...

'' (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 Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Grove Music Online''. ''Grove Dictionary of M ...

*''

The Case of the 3 Sided Dream in Audio Color ''The Case of the 3 Sided Dream in Audio Color'' is an album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, released as a double LP, with side 4 appearing blank - although side 4 did have a hidden track, the contents of which are release ...

'' (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 saxophonist, who made numerous recordings as a session musician and leader, but is best known for his work as a sideman on seminal 1950s an ...

*'' Mr. Fathead'' (Warner Bros., 1976) With

*'' 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 Jazz musicians from New York City American session musicians Plastic Ono Band members Conga players Bongo players Maracas players American tambourine players Güiro players Timbaleros 20th-century American conductors (music) American male jazz musicians 20th-century American keyboardists 20th-century American male musicians