Confetti Park

Tag: delta

  • Music Medley: Snow Bank

    Music Medley: Snow Bank

    snowmanLet the holiday music commence!

    It’s the most magical time of the year…and we are feeling the holiday magic in Confetti Park! I hope you enjoy the culture I’m sharing from Louisiana, the Mississippi Delta, and beyond.

    The Confetti Park radio show is a weekly 30-minute program that streams online and airs in cities across the United States, made available for free to all community radio stations on the Pacifica Network. We’re going to enjoy the music of the season all this month on every episode. There will be Christmas carols, Hanukkah songs of light, and children’s favorites all month long here in Confetti Park, as well as sweet stories to make you smile. Thanks for joining me, your host, Katy Hobgood Ray!

    Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer – Fats Domino
    Joke of the Day – Snow Bank
    Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane) – Elvis Presley
    Christmas in Tennessee – Amy Grant and Kid Pan Alley
    Christmas in New Orleans – Louis Armstrong
    It Came Upon a Midnight Clear – Michael Doucet
    Blue Christmas – Linnzi Zaorkski
    Mele Kalikimaka – Debbie Davis & Matt Perrine

    All about the music

    On this episode, Snow Bank, we start off with the delightful Fats Domino, singing about everyone’s favorite reindeer.

    The we hear from the one and only Elvis Presley, singing “Here Comes Santa Claus.” I bet kids of all ages, even young ones today know that voice… Now, while I still call New Orleans home, I recently took a wonderful job at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. That’s where Elvis lived and first recorded!

    So let’s hear another song from the Volunteer State… enjoy Amy Grant and Kid Pan Alley with “Christmas in Tennessee,” followed by the great jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong with “Christmas in New Orleans.” How fun to compare the lyrics! They both begin with verses about the distinctive trees of the regions.

    Christmas in Tennessee
    The leaves are changing colors, they’re falling off the trees
    I know it won’t be long now till it’s Christmas in Tennessee.
    I hope somewhere that Santa Claus is thinking about you and me.
    He’s gonna bring us lots of toys when it’s Christmas in Tennessee.

    Christmas in New Orleans
    Magnolia trees at night, Sparkling bright,
    Fields of cotton look wintery white
    When it’s Christmas time in New Orleans
    A barefoot choir in prayer fills the air,
    Mississippi folks are gathering there,
    ‘Cuz it’s Christmas time in New Orleans.

    Next we hear from the marvelous Cajun musician Michael Doucet with “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, followed by a jazzy version of “Blue Christmas” by Louisiana chanteuse Linnzi Zaorkski (who was raised in Alexandria and Shreveport and now calls Bush, Louisiana home). Last we hear a Hawaiian Christmas song, “Mele Kalikimaka,” performed by singer Debbie Davis & sousaphonist Matt Perrine, a married couple who are busy musicians in New Orleans (as are their musical kids).

    Also featured in this episode are two delighted holiday stories. One is a fun little tale from Justin Wilson, an old Cajun cook from Roseland, with “Santa Claus and the Mouse.” And we hear “The Kitty at the Manger” told by Mary Jean Chester of Des Allemands, Louisiana.

    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!

  • Music Medley: Cows Go Moo

    Music Medley: Cows Go Moo

    cartoon cowWelcome 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.

    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.

     

  • New song from Confetti Park Players: “Riding on the Mississippi River”

    New song from Confetti Park Players: “Riding on the Mississippi River”

    Exciting news from the Confetti Park workshop! The Confetti Park Players have just released their brand new single, “Riding on the Mississippi River.” The track is available on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, Google Play, and other digital music services.

    “A song inspired by life along the Mississippi River, where beautiful riverboats & big ships rule, & the merry sound of calliopes fills the air. This fun song by Katy Hobgood Ray & the Confetti Park Players features a Dixieland jazz band from New Orleans.”

    The song is performed by Katy Hobgood Ray and the Confetti Park Players children’s chorus. Musicians include: Jim Thornton, trumpet; Owen Callahan, clarinet; David Phy, trombone; Tim Stambaugh, tuba; Brandon Brunious; banjo; and Cale Pellick, drums. It was recorded at Word of Mouth Recording Studio, Algiers Point in New Orleans, Louisiana.

    “Let’s Go Riding on the Mississippi River” was written by Ted Lindsay, from Mooringsport, Louisiana, who was inspired to write the song when visiting Katy and her family in Algiers Point in New Orleans. Ted was a principal songwriter on We’re Going to Confetti Park!, the first full-length album from the Confetti Park Players and winner of a Parents’ Choice Award.

    Let’s go riding on the Mississippi River
    from St. Paul to New Orleans
    It’s 2000 miles all the way
    down the middle of the USA!

    About Katy Hobgood Ray & the Confetti Park Players

    Katy leads a fun mashup of a kids choir and fabulous, well-established adult New Orleans musicians. They perform catchy originals and familiar folk songs, jump rope jingles and clapping chants, and a few rock ‘n roll surprises.

    The Confetti Park Players have collaborated with such musical talents as world-renowned jazz drummer Johnny Vidacovich, flutist Patti Adams of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, internationally lauded clarinetist Evan Christopher, Lincoln Center-affiliated jazz trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso, Dirty Dozen Brass Band saxophonist Roger Lewis, beloved New Orleans piano players Tom McDermott and AJ Loria.

    They’ve performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, French Quarter Fest, the Folk Art Fest, Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo, Beignet Fest, Creole Tomato Fest, Fête Française, and numerous venues around New Orleans. They are regularly featured on the Confetti Park radio program.

    About Confetti Park

    Confetti Park is a children’s media workshop, weekly radio program and podcast based out of New Orleans. We work with children to build community by sharing stories, music, and culture. The name for Confetti Park comes from a small playground in the heart of Algiers Point, a charming and historical neighborhood on the West bank of the Mississippi River. Learn More