ATLANTIC CITY — For more than a quarter-century, the Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation has used jazz to preserve a unique piece of Atlantic City history while introducing new generations of children to music.
Now, co-founder Henrietta Shelton says the organization needs help to keep that mission moving forward.
Shelton said the foundation is seeking additional funding as well as paid music instructors for its Youth Jazz Institute, which provides music education to young people from its home on North Indiana Avenue.
“I need funding,” Shelton said during an appearance on Off the Press with Scott Cronick on WOND, with Atlantic City Councilman Jesse Kurtz serving as guest host. “I'm trying to play catch-up now.”
Shelton said she had been sidelined by illness for nearly two years and is beginning to return to some of the work she previously handled.
“I'm getting better, but I need funding, so I'm really desperate now trying to get back on the computer,” Shelton said.
But while Shelton was unable to maintain her usual pace, she said the foundation's programs continued.
“Everything else has been running,” she said. “I have somebody running the Institute.”
Shelton said her grandson has also taken on a larger role with the foundation's summer jazz concerts.
“So everything's still moving,” she said, “but I'm not moving.”
Free Music Lessons for Atlantic City Youth
The Chicken Bone Beach Youth Jazz Institute operates at 726 N. Indiana Ave. in Atlantic City, offering year-round instruction in instruments and vocals.
The foundation's current program information says Atlantic City students can receive lessons free, with financial assistance available to qualifying students elsewhere in Atlantic County. Current offerings include piano, guitar and drums, along with vocal instruction. The institute also promotes private lessons, master classes and digital music instruction.
Shelton said additional teachers are needed.
“If anybody is listening, I pay the instructors an hour, and I need new instructors,” Shelton said.
Most of the students are just beginning their musical education.
“The kids are beginner's kids,” Shelton said. “Most of my students are beginning, just learning the piano. So I'm looking for music instructors.”
“And of course,” she added, “I would pay.”
The foundation's website says donations help pay for music instruction, instruments, equipment and educational materials. It says $15 can sponsor a 30-minute lesson, while $300 can send a student to its three-week summer jazz camp.
From Summer Jazz Camp to Year-Round Institute
Teaching children music has been part of the foundation's mission almost from the beginning.
Shelton said the organization's youth jazz programming grew with help from renowned trumpeter Donald Byrd, who worked with students from Atlantic City and Camden.
“You have to learn the instrument, and then you start improvising,” Shelton said.
She said learning jazz teaches something larger than simply playing notes.
“That's the type of lesson I want children to learn,” Shelton said. “I want them to learn how to be able to communicate with other people, but still come back and actually join the whole group and create something beautiful like that.”
For 17 years, Shelton said, the foundation operated a jazz camp.
During the final years of that program, Stockton provided space where students could spend several weeks learning jazz before performing as an opening act at one of the foundation's concerts.
“Now those kids are adults,” Shelton said.
“I understand a couple of them are actually principal and music teachers,” she said. “A lot of them have grown up to be jazz players.”
A House Becomes a Music School
The foundation eventually found a permanent home for that educational mission through an unexpected donation.
Shelton recalled receiving an email asking whether the organization wanted a house.
She initially wasn't sure what to make of it.
It turned out to be Wells Fargo.
“They took me over there, and they said, ‘Ms. Shelton, would you like to have this house?’” Shelton recalled.
The company wanted to know what the foundation would do with the property.
“I said, ‘I want to make a music institute and teach kids a few music lessons,’” Shelton said.
The answer came quickly.
“Within a week, they called me back and said, ‘We'll meet you at the title company if you're interested,’” Shelton said. “Gave me the key and everything.”
Shelton said Atlantic City subsequently provided much of the money needed to renovate the building.
Today, that property houses the Youth Jazz Institute, where the foundation says children can receive year-round music instruction.
26 Years of Jazz on the Boardwalk
The educational program is only one part of Chicken Bone Beach's musical presence in Atlantic City.
Shelton said the foundation began staging jazz concerts at Kennedy Plaza in 2000.
“This year is our 26th jazz concert,” she said.
The 26th annual Jazz on the Beach series is underway this summer with five free Thursday-night concerts at Kennedy Plaza, running from Aug. 6 through Sept. 3.
Shelton takes particular pride in the straight-ahead jazz the series showcases.
“When you come and see our artists, they're creating music right at that moment on the stage,” Shelton said. “They're creating whatever they're playing, and it's never sounding the same.”
The foundation has brought Grammy-winning and nationally recognized musicians to Atlantic City during the series' history.
“We're really proud of what we have done,” Shelton said.
Now, Shelton's immediate concern is making sure the next generation has an opportunity to become those musicians.
The foundation is accepting donations to support youth music education and is looking for additional instructors.
For Shelton, the concerts, institute and history of Chicken Bone Beach are all pieces of the same mission: keeping an important part of Atlantic City's cultural history alive while passing it to another generation.
About the Author
Karen Johnson
With over 30 years of news experience in major markets like Los Angeles, Denver, and Columbus, Karen now covers our area for South Jersey NewsBeat. She also brings her articulate and conversational news delivery to WOND radio listeners every weekday. Her background includes work with the NBC Radio Network, and she thrives in fast-paced news environments.
