Orice Jenkins is an international troubadour, independent scholar, and multi-genre sound sculptor, originally from Hartford, Connecticut. His work spans music, genealogical research, and public education, with a shared focus on recovery, memory, and cultural continuity. 

Jenkins’ musical style can be described as a sound rooted in rhythm and blues, shaped by jazz and classical study, and adjacent to folk traditions. His baritone voice draws from the lineage of Nat “King” Cole and Jon Hendricks, while his songwriting reflects the melodic sensibilities of Stevie Wonder and Carole King, paired with arrangements inspired by Quincy Jones and Harry Connick, Jr. Jenkins’ recordings have been featured in JazzTimes, Jazziz, JazzWeekly, and his album Soar reached #11 on the iTunes Jazz chart. 

His discography includes Around the Piano (2014), Soar (2016), and Centennial Cole: The Music of Nat “King” Cole (2019), a highly acclaimed project honoring Cole’s 100th birthday through original string quartet arrangements and modern reinterpretations. That album also marked a convergence of Jenkins’ roles as performer and educator, as he taught Nat Cole’s music to elementary school students while reimagining it for contemporary audiences.

Parallel to his music career, Jenkins is an accomplished genealogist whose research focuses on Southwest Georgia, slavery, genetic genealogy, and New England. He began researching his own family after discovering a shared ancestral homeland with Whitney Houston’s grandparents in Blakely, Georgia. His research has since traced his ancestry back to 1745 in Central Virginia and has documented the lives of several formerly enslaved Americans.

Jenkins’ scholarship has been featured in The Washington Post, National Parks Magazine, PBS’ Finding Your Roots, the Journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society and on the Homestead National Historical Park website. He has presented at The College of William & Mary, FamilySearch’s RootsTech Conference, the International African American Museum’s Center for Family History, and the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute, where he currently serves as an instructor. His professional research appointments include genealogist roles with the Beinecke Library at Yale University and Richmond National Battlefield Park.

He is the author of The Early County Massacre: Goolsby vs. The State of Georgia (Arcadia Publishing), an award-winning book documenting the family of Grandison Goolsby, a prominent Black farmer who was extrajudicially lynched in Early County, Georgia, in 1915. His academic writing also includes published research on James Mealy, a free person of color and Revolutionary-era patriot from Goochland County, Virginia. Jenkins also publishes a blog called Chesta’s Children. In addition to his scholarly and artistic work, Jenkins is the Executive Director of Música Franklin, a nonprofit organization that provides free afterschool music education for youth in Franklin County, Massachusetts. 

Jenkins is a member of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage, the Society of the First African Families of English America, and ASCAP. His honors include the International AAHGS Book Award, a Certificate of Special Recognition from the Sons and Daughters of the U.S. Middle Passage, the Mike Fritz Community Builder Award, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from East Hartford Public Schools.