Author: Confetti Park

Music Medley: A Pirate’s High C’s
Ahoy!!!! Welcome to Confetti Park, a magical place full of music and stories for children. Aye, You’ll hear lots of songs from the Mississippi delta and beyond as we hear an amazing variety of American music for scurvy buccaneers! This week we are celebrating International Talk Like a Pirate Day! It’s held on September 19… avast… that’s right around the corner!

Here are some songs of the piratical nature for ye to enjoy:
- Sensible Life of a Pirate – Imagination Movers
- Talk Like a Pirate – Jake & the NeverLand Pirates
- Watch out for the Pirates – Confetti Park Players
- Down by the Bay – Andrew Best
- A Sailor Went to Sea – Johnette Downing
- Allons a Lafayette – Feufollet
- The Big Blue Sea – Danny O’Flaherty and Khaetidawne Quirk
- Sri Lanka Fisherman’s Chant – Katherine Dines
In this episode, first we have that grand kids band, the Imagination Movers of New Orleans, with “Sensible Life of a Pirate.” And then a sensible lesson in Pirate talk for ya, as featured on that brigand show, Jake & the Never Land Pirates. How about those Confetti Park Players, the cutest pirates in all the land, with Watch out for the Pirates! (Enjoy this music video featuring the Confetti Park Players and the NOLA Pyrate Society, shot on location in Pirate’s Alley in the French quarters of New Orleans.)

Sea Shanties

Argh, Mateys I hope you enjoy the song about sailors, too, by Louisiana pied piper Johnette Downing, and the camp favorite “Down by the Bay” by Memphis children’s performer Andrew Best.

Then we go dancing, “Allons a Lafayette,” by the Cajun band Feufollet, who started performing together as young buccaneers and are still traveling the high seas today. We also hear a song about that Big Blue Sea from Danny O’Flaherty, an Irishman who relocated to New Orleans (as many a good pirate will do), and then the beautiful “Sri Lanka Fisherman’s Chant,” performed by Katherine Dines, a fine fellow of the Children’s Music Network.

This episode’s Storytime feature is a delightful piratical tale from Bill Harley, the “Ballad of Dirty Joe.”

I hope ye join me again — yer Mate Katy Hobgood Ray — for more wonderful children’s music from Confetti Park…. and remember to look for the magic in every day!

More about Confetti Park

The Confetti Park radio show streams online and airs in cities across the United States, made available to all community radio stations on the Pacifica Network. Check to see if your local community radio station carries it, and ask! Support for Confetti Park comes from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation and Music Rising at Tulane University.
Storytime: Lafitte’s Restless Ghost narrated by Ted Lindsay

You’ve heard of Pirate Jean Lafitte, a French pirate who gained infamy in the bays and swamps off the Gulf of Mexico. He lived from 17080-1823. He is often featured in tales of treasure hunters and is part of many legends from Louisiana and Texas.

Here is one that takes place in Laport, off the coast of Galveston Bay… in the 1800s, many years after Lafitte;s death. We learn thatt he ghost of the smuggler continually wanders the earth searching for a worthy inheritor. Only when he finds a person who is worthy can he at last rest.

The story is narrated for you by Ted Lindsay of Mooringsport, La.

We begin with a weary travel who is approaching an abandoned house at dusk, and he enters it to take shelter from the cold wind. He can hear the waves tearing at the bluffs of Galveston Bay…. After stabling his tired horse, he enters the old house and builds a fire for comfort.

He wakes to find a strange man standing over him, who beckons him to follow. The weary traveler, in a stupor, is so commanded by the presence and entreaty in the eyes of the stranger that he does….

The strange man says to him,

“Here more gold lies buried than is good for any man. All you have to do is dig, and it is yours. You can use it; I cannot. However, it must only be applied purposes of highest beneficence. Not one penny may be evilly or selfishly spent. Do you understand?”

I said “Yes.”

Then the visitant was gone, and I was shivering with cold.

What happens next? Listen to the full story as featured on Confetti Park!
Katy Hobgood Ray honored by New Orleans Magazine

Katy Hobgood Ray, the host of the weekly Confetti Park radio show and director of kids chorus the Confetti Park Players, has been honored by New Orleans Magazine as one of the People to Watch in 2018.

“As New Orleans begins its next 300 years, we look forward to seeing the creative people it will continue to provide a setting for; people such as those in this year’s class of People to Watch,” write the editors of New Orleans Magazine. “We define a Person to Watch as someone doing something new and interesting. In some cases it might be someone who has already been watchable but that is moving in a new direction… Most of our selections achieve the greatness that we had anticipated, or greater. How will this class do? We’ll be watching.”

Katy is recognized among a class of fifteen stellar and creative people, including chefs, artists, dog lovers, designers, altruists, athletes, and more, all who combine their passion and energy with an entrepreneurial instinct. Read the article to learn who they are.

All of Katy’s work with children, music, and local culture under the umbrella of Confetti Park earned her a spot on this list… so the honor can be attributed to all the amazing fellow musicians and the children who participate in the Confetti Park Players chorus, as well as the families of Algiers Point and Confetti Kids volunteers who have all rallied around the adorable and inspirational heart of the neighborhood: the real Confetti Park.
Storytime: The Adventure of House Mouse by Iran & Henryelle Martin

In this episode of Confetti Park Storytime, we hear an original fable created by husband and wife team Iran and Henryelle Martin of Bossier City, La.

“There once lived a family of mice in the city of New Orleans, on Upperline Street, in a house abandoned of people. There were three of them…Mother Yum-Yum, Father Boom-Boom, and House-Mouse, their daughter.”

Iran, as narrator, introduces us to this cute family of mice, and gives us the background on their story.

Yum Yum as a child grew up in Micedale, Louisiana, a hop, skip and jump up the road from Baton Rouge the state’s capitol. When a traveling circus came through her small town, the country mouse fell in love with Boom-Boom, a star of the show.

Boom-Boom knew city life quite well, and was able to find his bride a wonderful house in the Garden District of New Orleans. Once they had their daughter he happily gave up the circus life, as getting shot out of a cannon is not a great way to ensure you’ll be there for your family. He was also determined that House Mouse would know how to read and write, so that she would have many options growing up.

And so…. Iran sets the stage for how it is that House Mouse’s knowledge of books helped save the family when human beings moved in to their wonderful house on Upperline Street.

Enjoy this cute modern fable by Iran and Henryelle Martin! And listen to more stories by the Martins.
Music Medley: Cows Go Moo
Welcome to Confetti Park, a radio show out of New Orleans, Louisiana. We play lots of songs and stories from the Bayou State and from the Mississippi Delta region. This is a music medley of songs, poems, and jump rope jingles featured on a recent episode.
- Louisiana’s Alphabet Song – Kristen Cole and Daniel Morgan
- Joke of the Day: Cows Go Moo
- Hey Diddle Diddle – Wee Sing
- Rock Paper Scissors – Ph Fred
- The Itsy Bitsy Spider – Jeremy Lyons
- Do Your Ears Hang Low? – Johnette Downing
- Music Memory from David Phy
- Lovely Little Ladybug – Confetti Park Players Children’s ChorusConfetti Park Players
- Tit Cochon Roti – Girard Dole
- Kukuriku – Judy Caplan Ginsburgh
- This Little Light of Mine – Kermit Ruffins
- Quarter Past Purple – a poem by Carlos Colon
- Butterflies – a poem by Lily Bell
- The Coast of Louisiana – a poem by Hrilina Ramrakhiani
- Chien Jaune et Chien Caille – Girard Dole
- When You’re in Love, You’ll Understand – Jim Cummings: The Princess & the Frog
- Cinderella – a poem by Manele Anika
- Warehouse Mouse – Imagination Movers
This episode, “Cows Go Moo,” the show begins with a song showcasing the Louisiana state bird, the state insect, the state flower… and so on. This is “Louisiana’s Alphabet Song,” featuring Kristen Cole and Daniel Morgan. The old nursery rhyme favorite “Itsy Bitsy Spider” is performed by Jeremy Lyons, from his DeltaBilly style Silly Goose Music. And PhFred leads a group with Rock Paper Scissors. What a great song!

Who doesn’t love a Silly Song performed by New Orleans kids’ favorite, Johnette Downing? Sing along and play along with “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” You’ll hear “Lovely Little Ladybug” performed by the Confetti Park Players, a kids chorus in New Orleans, and “Kukuriku, the Rooster’s Song,” sung by Judy Caplan Gibsburgh of Alexandria, La. Rabbi Judy has been performing music for kids since the 1980s! Check out her website at judymusic.com

Other songs featured: a hand-clapping version of the Sunday school classic “This Little Light of Mine,” by New Orleans trumpeter Kermit Ruffins and his children; the Imagination Movers with “Warehouse Mouse” and “When You’re in Love, You’ll Understand” featuring Jim Cummings, who played Ray, the lightning bug of the Princess & the Frog…. a beautiful Disney movie set in the swamps of Louisiana.

Sprinkled throughout are many terrific poems by Louisiana creators, of all ages. Also featured on this episode is a Music Memory from trombonist David Phy and a folk tale called the Beaver’s Tale of Greed, narrated by Iran Martin of Bossier City.

The Confetti Park radio show streams online and airs in cities across the United States, made available to all community radio stations on the Pacifica Network. Check to see if your local community radio station carries it, and ask! Support for Confetti Park comes from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation and Music Rising at Tulane University.
Charlie Bush recalls the earliest days of his lifelong relationship with music

Charlie Bush is a guitar player, drummer, and a retired chef from Shreveport, Louisiana. His childhood was imbued with music, as he had an incredibly wonderfully large musical family, with all the siblings having particular instruments they played and a personal repertoire of songs they were known for singing in their family ranks.

Charlie’s brother Bill Bush is a Louisiana legend who led a musical combo for fifty years. (Learn about the Bill Bush Combo) He operated a club in Shreveport called the Moulin Rouge, where members of the family honed their performance chops. Eventually, Charlie and his sister Rebecca toured New Zealand as a duo singing folk and rock songs.

Charlie’s mom Ruby had a big impact on his appreciation of music (and that of his siblings).

“It started out with my mom, who was a piano player, and played for all my talent shows growing up,” says Charlie.

Ruby is still living at 99 years young and regularly performs for her fellow residents at a nursing home in the Dallas area!

See video

Charlie took ukulele lessons when he was seven years old at the Shreveport Memorial Library. (Aren’t public libraries WONDERFUL??) Soon after, he started taking guitar lessons.

“My first song was John Denver, ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads,’” recalls Charlie. “Then I learned 27 Jimmy Buffet songs because they were all three and four chords. Easy to learn…. and I just went on from there!”

And that’s how it’s done, kids. Find an instrument you like, learn some popular songs you really love. Start with the easy ones. Once you learn just a few chords, the world of musical performance opens up to you!

Thank you Charlie Bush for sharing your childhood music memories with Confetti Park.
Music Medley: 7-8-9
Welcome to Confetti Park, a place where you can listen to kids music and hear stories, poems, jumprope jingles, and learn about the culture of Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta. I’m Katy Hobgood Ray, your host. In New Orleans we are celebrating our 300th birthday this year. New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Bienville, and the city and Louisiana are known for having a unique mix of cultural influences: French, Spanish, African, German, Native American, and many other peoples … that is why we have such unique food and music.

This is a music medley of songs featured on the show this week.
- Give Me A Squeeze Please – Buckwheat Zydeco
- Joke of the Day – 7-8-9
- Swamp Stomp – Angela Mannino
- Whistle While You Work – Louis Armstrong
- Twinkle Twinkle – Ayana of the Renzi Center
- Sharing – a poem by Marcus Page
- Fingers Under the Door – Vivi Melody
- Hide and Seek – Jazzy Ash
- L.O.S.T. – Imagination Movers
- Je Veux Marier – Magnolia Sisters
This episode of Confetti Park begins with a song by Buckwheat Zydeco, a famous zydeco musician. Zydeco is a kind of music that was created in Louisiana, by Cajun French, African and Native American people blending all their sounds. Buck is going to tell us all about a very important instrument of zydeco music….. the accordion.

Then we hear from Angela Mannino with “Swamp Stomp”…. Angela is a New orleans Native who now lives in NY where she is a renowned soprano opera singer… we are lucky to have her singing several great Louisiana kids songs on this album.

We also hear famous jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, performing a song from Disney’s Snow White…. You might remember seven dwarves singing this… “Whistle While You Work.”

Ayana, a student at the Shreveport based Renzi Center, and New Orleans poet Marcus Page share their poems, and then we hear a little run of hide and seek songs, beginning with NOLA native Vivi Melody. The Imagination Movers are perhaps Louisiana’s most famous kids music band. Jazzy Ash, who is terrific fun, lives in Los Angeles but spent her childhood summers on the West bank of New Orleans. She plays Dixieland style kids music.

We end with the Magnolia Sisters, a Cajun band from Lafayette Louisiana. “Je Veux Marier,” which translates to“I want to marry,” is a fun song to dance to at a Cajun wedding.

Also in this episode of Confetti Park is the storytime feature Louis Lion, When It Gets Dark I May Start Cryin, by Cindy Foust of Monroe, Louisiana. Cindy has a whole Alpha-kidZ children’s book series. Each letter of the alphabet gets a feature story and a feature creature who has an adventure… and learns a valuable lesson.

You can listen to all the stories you hear on this radio show on our free Confetti Park podcast. The Confetti Park radio show and podcast is supported by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation and Music Rising at Tulane University.

Thanks for listening. Remember to look for the magic in every day!
Storytime – Fair Weather Friend: A Story of Hurricane Katrina by Marcus Page

Summertime in New Orleans brings a hyper awareness of storm season. In this episode of Confetti Park, we hear Fair Weather Friend: A Story of Hurricane Katrina, narrated by the author Marcus Page.

Marcus is a poet and a New Orleans native. He was inspired to write a story of the power of friendship after the experience of Hurricane Katrina. Two children, who are the best of friends, are separated from each other during the hurricane evacuation. While their families face different challenges, both of these young children bear the pressure of the situation and the forced evacuation of their home.

It was August, the summer of 2005.
The kids were getting ready to go back to school.
After a long summer of playing and vacationing,
Payton and Maria were looking forward to getting back to school.

Payton and Maria were walking to the corner store.
When they arrived to the store the store clerk was watching
the news on a TV behind the counter.

There was a special bulletin urging all residents to evacuate soon,
because a huge storm was coming.
The news man called the storm Katrina.

Katrina was said to possibly be the biggest storm New Orleans had ever seen.

Fair Weather Friend: A Story of Hurricane Katrina is available on Amazon. Listen to Marcus narrate the story. And learn more about Marcus and his poetry and performance art at http://www.rawartists.org/marcuspage.
Music Medley of Kids Music: Grizzly & Harp
Welcome to Confetti Park, a magical show featuring stories and music for children of all ages. I’ve been gathering songs from across my home state of Louisiana and from places around the Mississippi Delta. I just love the variety or music—blues, jazz, country, rock n roll, rap and church music and Cajun, and brass band… there’s a lot to learn and I am still listening and learning every day. I hope you like what I share with you.

This is a music medley of songs featured on the show this week.
- Arkansas Tongue Twister – Sunpie Barnes
- Joke of the Day: Grizzly Bear & Harp
- Salmon Song – Jazzy Ash
- Avocado Woo Woo – Tin Men
- Daycare – Ph Fred
- Days of the Week – Jason & Layla
- Louis Ray – ABCs
- Five Little Butterflies – Johnette Downing
- Curious George Main Theme Song – Dr. John
- We’ve Got Each Other – Imagination Movers
We begin with a game song from Arkansas, by Arkansas born New Orleans resident Bruce Sunpie Barnes. He is a real forest ranger, and a great musician. You will also hear the wonderful Tin Men of New Orleans, L.A. based Jazzy Ash (who has deep Louisiana roots), and Louisiana pied piper Johnette Downing. There is also a famous song by the famous Dr. John, all about the most famous monkey in the world. And I know you will enjoy brother and sister duo Jason & Layla, who are wonderful artists on their own, and together. (Jason Rhein plays music in Rotary Downs and is one of the owners of Marigny Recording Studio. Layla is a professional belly dancer in NYC. They are originally from Baton Rouge.) And we have a terrific parody song by Ph Fred… “They tried to make me go to daycare, I said ‘No, No, No!’”

We end with a song by the Imagination Movers all about a hurricane evacuation. These are the times when you realize what are truly the most important things in life… HINT: it’s not houses nor possessions. The guys know what’s up in “We’ve Got Each Other.” This song leads us into our storytime feature, Fairweather Friend, by New Orleans poet and storyteller Marcus Page. It is the story of young friends separated because of a hurricane evacuation.

You can listen to all the stories you hear on this radio show on our free Confetti Park podcast.The Confetti Park radio show and podcast is supported by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation and Music Rising at Tulane University.

Thanks for listening. Remember to look for the magic in every day!
Look for Katy & the Confetti Park Players at Jazz Fest!

Photo of Katy and the Confetti Park Players at Jazz Fest, by Sally Asher (those are her feet in the foreground)

Katy Hobgood Ray and the band and some of the Confetti Park Players will be performing at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival this year! We perform at the Kids Tent on Thursday, May 3, 2018 at 3 p.m. SCHEDULE

This year Katy is leading a smaller troupe of Confetti Park Players in an interactive music set in the Kids Tent. We will do some of our favorites like “Roman Candy Man,” “Snoball,” “Watch Out for the Pirates,” and lots of Lead Belly songs. We will also do a special tribute to our dearly departed Mr. Okra. And of course you can expect a lively performance of our theme song, “We’re Going to Confetti Park!”

The Kids Area is a lovely zone where you can relax and enjoy a spacious safe area and special kid-oriented foods (still delicious and unique to Jazz Fest), arts & craft areas and discovery centers. and wonderful shade under the tents! There are some WONDERFUL people working and performing in the kids area on May 3!

Our own Algiers Point-based Calliope Puppets and the International School of Louisiana Circus Arts Kids are all performing on the same day as the Confetti Park Players? How cool is that? Algiers Point represents!

Also on May 3 are performers from Ecole Bilingue de la Nouvelle Orleans and the fabulous Micaela y Fiesta Flamenca and OperaCreole!

We are thrilled that the local media has given us some wonderful coverage surrounding our Jazz Fest performance. Hopefully people will be curious about our music and check out the Confetti Park Players CD, which every kid should have!

Enjoy these articles that appeared this week.

New Orleans Advocate: Confetti Park Players offer a colorful take on Louisiana music

Tulane New Wave: Tulane takes Jazz Fest

Da Cubes! Jazz Fest May 3, 2018, when Katy Hobgood Ray and some of the Confetti Park Players perform at the Kids Tent at 3 p.m.
Storytime: Little Orphan Annie Ledbetter, the Laughing Dog

This is not Annie, but it looks like her. I will try to find a picture of her and share it soon.

Three friends reminisce about rescuing a dog off a highway on their pilgrimage to Lead Belly’s grave.

With Ted Lindsay, Katy Hobgood Ray, & David Ray

It was hot. VERY hot. Dave, Ted and I finally remembered this fact about the day that we rescued Annie Ledbetter off the side of a country highway, because we recalled that the little pads of her paws were burned off by the heat of the asphalt.

Little Orphan Annie Ledbetter, the Laughing Dog, was a medium sized solid black mutt who had been abandoned on the Blanchard Latex Road in rural Caddo Parish in northwest Louisiana.

We know she was abandoned because she was running back and forth along the road cut through the rolling piney woods, sticking close to shoulder, waiting and barking, and terrified. We passed her in our truck on our way to visit Lead Belly’s grave, and agreed that were she still there on our way back, we would try to rescue her.

The headstone for Annie Ledbetter in Shiloh Baptist Church. The woman must have been loved in her lifetime. And so was the dog who came generations after her.

We spent some time in the grave yard at Shiloh Baptist Church, looking at the old headstones, including Lead Belly’s grave (a place we all visit several times a year) and noticing all the Ledbetter descendants in that yard. Ted was captivated by a head stone that had the name ‘Annie Ledbetter’ etched upon it. He loved that name.

We piled back into Dave’s white pickup truck and headed back to Ted’s house in Mooringsport. There was nothing save pine forest, or the occasional dilapidated shack or mobile home every half mile or so.

We all kept our eye out for the little black dog. As we rounded a gentle bend, we saw her.

She was there. Sitting on the side of the road. Waiting. For what? For who?

Dave pulled his truck over and he and Ted and I scrambled out of the car to approach the little black dog.

She was panicked and terrified, and bared her teeth at us. Yet she wouldn’t run away. You could see she was desperately in need of comfort. She would chase after us a few feet when we would retreat.

We didn’t give up. We had nothing more pressing on this sunny day than to save this life. We didn’t chase her. We gave her time and space and hung out in the back of the pickup truck and waited for her to get comfortable. The wind blew gently through the tree tops. Cars were few and far between.

Dave finally got the bright idea to coax her with water. He went to his truck, pulled out a big frisbee and poured in cool liquid from his water bottle. He put it on the ground outside the truck and sat just inside with the door open.

Ted and I watched from behind the truck as she warily approached the water. She sniffed, and then desperately started drinking. We gingerly approached, and soothingly talked to her. She didn’t run….. She cowered, and then she gave in. She gave herself over to what fate would bring. Ted put his hands gently on her, and next thing you know, he had scooped her up and put her into the back of the truck. We climbed in to sit with her while Dave drove the truck back to Ted’s house.

She was a lapdog for the rest of the night. Hugs and snuggles and food and water and campfire light and music. A frisky, wiggly, joyful dog emerged from the fearful creature, just like that.

Little Orphan Annie Ledbetter was full of joy, happy to be alive, happy to be loved.

She lived out the rest of her happy life with Ted there in those woods.
Storytime: The Adventures Of The Swamp Kids – A Dog Named Cat By Leif Pedersen

A Dog Named Cat by Leif Pedersen

There is something special about a Catahoula Leopard Dog! What a strange and magical breed…It’s the state dog of Louisiana. And it’s celebrated in the cute children’s book by Leif Pedersen. Leif narrates the fun-filled adventure in A Dog Named Cat, the fourth book in The Adventures of The Swamp Kids series, for Confetti Park.

The Swamp Kids travel to a nearby animal shelter in hopes of finding a new pet they can adopt and bring home. They find a Louisiana Catahoula Cur puppy and learn all about him. (This podcast features “Sunbonnet Sue” performed by the Hackberry Ramblers.) Listen!

….They’re called “catahoulas,”
and raised up the bayou a bit.
They’re really good herders,
and faster than lightning.
At home he will be a big hit!

So now what to name their new furry friend? Lots of smiles come from this great book for animal lovers, not least the brightly colored illustrations of the swamp critters by artist Tim Banfell. Also included in the book is a Lagniappe Lesson written by WWL-TV and Radio personality Angela Hill, a dedicated animal lover respected for her journalistic talents and her unwavering commitment to animals. Angela offers kids tips on the care and responsibility involved with pet ownership.

Want to hear more? Listen to The Missing Chord by Leif Pedersen, the very first Swamp Kids book in the series. The Swamp Kids have many adventures you can enjoy… Visit www.theswampkids.com for puzzles, plush toys, activity sheets of teachers, and more!

The Catahoula Cur is an American dog breed named after Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, United States. Also known as the Catahoula Leopard Dog or Louisiana Catahoula, it became the state dog of Louisiana in 1979.