Confetti Park Children's Workshop

Tag: gospel

  • A childhood music memory from Ms. Chocolate about spirituals

    A childhood music memory from Ms. Chocolate about spirituals

    Ms. Chocolate, also known as Gwen Williams, is a storyteller and a singer who grew up in Louisiana. Many of her favorite stories and songs she shares with children today are the true memories and gathered songs from her own childhood in rural parts of central Louisiana. Church, family, school, and life in the country are recurrent themes.

    In this episode Ms. Chocolate shares about the music she sang as a little girl:

    “The music I remember as a child were called spirituals. Now you don’t have too much of that today…  I do a monologue of Harriet Tubman and spirituals of the Underground Railroad. So I teach children how slaves used music to communicate…….. ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot,’ ‘He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands,’ ‘This Little Light of Mine’—these are spirituals. These are simple songs that have a really big meaning,” says Ms. Chocolate.

    Ms. Chocolate lives in Picayune, Mississippi today. She left New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She tells stories all around the Gulf area. http://chocolatestoryteller.blogspot.com/

  • Music Memory from Andrew Baham

    Music Memory from Andrew Baham

    Andrew Baham. Photo from http://www.andrewbahamonline.com/
    Andrew Baham. Photo from http://www.andrewbahamonline.com/

    In this episode of Confetti Park, we hear a childhood music memory from New Orleans-born trumpet player Andrew Baham.

    Andrew has been playing the trumpet since the age of 11 years old. He studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and under the tutelage of players such as Ronald Benko, Clyde Kerr, Jr., and Nicholas Payton.

    In this memory, Andrew reflects on his early exposure to some of the great players of early jazz, such as the Olympia Brass Band. Says Andrew: “As a young kid I had the privilege to watch some of the older guys, and one of my most fond memories is watching Papa and “Duke” Dejan play.”

    Certainly, the early influence of that traditional brass sound shaped Andrews’s musical approach. Widely respected as a player, Andrew can be found performing with contemporary New Orleans bands such as Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Soul Rebels Brass Band, and Lil’ Stooges Brass Band. He has even performed with Mystikal and Mannie Fresh. But Andrew feels right at home among the old-timer players of traditional New Orleans jazz. Full Biography

    Check out Andrew’s own “Andrew Baham Quintet” and visit Andrew’s SoundCloud channel to hear the diversity of sounds he creates. https://soundcloud.com/daphessah/sets

  • Music Memory from Cynthia Girtley

    Music Memory from Cynthia Girtley

    Cynthia Girtley
    Cynthia Girtley is a wonderful traditional gospel singer from New Orleans

    Cynthia Girtley is a well-known gospel singer and music minister in New Orleans. Raised in a family with strong spiritual beliefs and church traditions, Cynthia started singing at age three and joined her church’s gospel choir when she was four.

    In this music memory, Cynthia talks about how it was that she came to be a church singer at such a very young age!

    If you’d like to listen to more of her music, check out A New Orleans Tribute to Mahalia Jackson and It’s In My Heart on CDBaby.

    Confetti Park is a children’s media workshop, podcast, and weekly radio program based out of New Orleans. We gather and tell stories, through music, art, puppetry, animations, and more. We are particularly inspired by the unique culture of Louisiana.

    The Confetti Park hosted by Katy Hobgood Ray, features music and stories spun in Louisiana. It showcases songs that kids love, songs created for kids, and songs created by kids. Sparkling interviews, in-studio performances, delightful music medleys, jokes, local author storytime, and a little surprise lagniappe make for an entertaining show.