Confetti Park

Tag: jazz

  • 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

     

  • John Doheny recalls jamming cartoon theme songs as a kid

    John Doheny recalls jamming cartoon theme songs as a kid

    Saxophonist John Doheny jams with Chuck Bee (l) and Roger Lewis (r).
    Saxophonist John Doheny at a Confetti Park recording session with Chuck Bee (L) and Roger Lewis (R).

    In this episode of Confetti Park, we hear a childhood music memory from New Orleans-based saxophonist John Doheny.

    John has a long career as a professional jazz musician, band leader, writer, and educator. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, he first started playing clarinet as a child and was part of youth orchestras from an early age.

    John switched to saxophone as a teenager, and says he developed his chops playing six nights a week as a college student in Vancouver. He spent his twenties and thirties playing and recording with a slate of well-known pop and rhythm and blues artists such as the Coasters, the Platters, Bobby Curtola, Buddy Knox, the Temptations, Solomon Burke, Michael Buble, and Doug and the Slugs.

    In 2003, John moved to New Orleans and enrolled in the graduate school at Tulane University. In addition to earning an MA in Musicology (with a concentration in Early New Orleans Jazz), he served as Professor of Practice in the music department and directed the student jazz band. He also served as band leader of the Professors of Pleasure, and has released several straight-ahead jazz recordings. (We are honored that John appears on a track with the Confetti Park Players—The Clapping Song.)

    In this memory, John recalls how his mother made him practice every day, and how it led to a favorite jam.

    “My mother said you have to practice for 30 minutes after school or no cartoons. And so I would be sitting there playing with the Klose book, and then the cartoons would come on, and then because I already had the horn in my hand, I taught myself how to play the Bugs Bunny theme song. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was teaching myself how to play what I hear, which is kind of what you want to do.”

  • Music Memory from Daniele Spadavecchia

    Music Memory from Daniele Spadavecchia

    Daniele Spadavecchia. Photo courtesy of http://www.dsjazz.com/
    Daniele Spadavecchia. Photo courtesy of http://www.dsjazz.com/

    In this episode of Confetti Park, we hear some memories of a musical childhood from New Orleans-based gypsy guitarist Daniele Spadavecchia, who grew up in Italy.

    Daniele loves to play acoustic gypsy jazz guitar, and when he first came to New Orleans (around 2003) he hooked up with Tony Green, another musician who shares sensibility and appreciation of gypsy jazz, swing, Mediterranean Flamenco, and European ethnic music.

    Daniele has performed at dozens of festivals and venues in Italy and the United States, especially around New Orleans and San Diego (where he lived after Hurricane Katrina for a time). Today, you can catch him at the Tasting Room on Magazine Street, where he has weekly gigs.

    In this interview, Daniele describes his childhood as freewheeling and adventurous, and his parents—”an Italian version of hippies”—shared their musical tastes with Daniele and his brother.

    “Of course as kids, we were always traveling with my parents, and we would always have a tape player in the car. We didn’t even have a working stereo in the car so we would carry this predecessor of a boom box. So we would play all these tapes.  My mama would play some music, and she would play every kind of thing…. all these fantastic rock ‘n roll or prog rock bands or psychedelic rock. And that thing really twisted my brain, in a good way. It taught me freedom of expression and the beauty of music, the power of music.”

    Daniele has recorded various gypsy jazz CDs and also plays on the Confetti Park Player’s children’s CD. he is the featured guitarist on the song “Buttermilk Drop.”

    Listen to Daniele’s beautiful music:

  • 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 Emily Estrella

    Music Memory from Emily Estrella

    estrellaEmily Estrella is a singer who has spent the last several years singing traditional jazz and original tunes around the French Quarter and Marigny music clubs. You can even catch her busking on the streets of New Orleans on occasion.

    She “has an ‘old soul’ voice evoking the Dixie ghosts of a previous century. Charismatic & joyous, she heads in to share her contagious repertoire of traditional acoustic folk-jazz.” Visit her Band Camp page for some sound samples: http://emilyestrella.bandcamp.com

    In this music memory shared with Confetti Park, Emily fondly discusses the impression her grandmother made on her when she was growing up.

    “People ask me a lot, ‘What record did you learn those old songs from?’ My reply usually is, ‘A record, what do you mean a record? My grandma sang me these songs!’” laughs Emily. “She taught me to dance, she sang with me a lot, and she told me about this magical place called New Orleans.”

  • Music Memory from Roger Lewis

    Music Memory from Roger Lewis

    Roger Lewis, a well-respected New Orleans baritone saxophonist, plays on the Confetti Park children's CD.
    Roger Lewis, a well-respected New Orleans baritone saxophonist, plays on the Confetti Park children’s CD.

    New Orleans musician Roger Lewis shares a childhood music memory with Confetti Park about his first love, the saxophone.

    Roger Lewis has had a wonderful career in music that keeps him traveling around the world to this day. The baritone saxophonist is a founding member of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, which began in 1977! He is also a member of the Treme Brass Band, the Delfeayo Marsalis Uptown Jazz Orchestra, Walter “Wolfman” Washington’s band, and several other bands around town.

    Roger, who is still going strong at over 70 years of age, recalls how it all began:

    “When I was a little guy, maybe around 8 years old, I was fascinated with the shape of the saxophone. I used to take newspapers and form them in the shape of a cone, and shape them into the shape of a saxophone….and I would be in the backyard [pretending to play musical notes].…. pretty much that was my toy as a kid! I got my first saxophone when I was 10 years old.”

    He also talks a bit about his mechanical inclinations as a kid.

    Thank you, Roger, for sharing this wonderful memory with Confetti Park.

  • Music Medley: Frogsy Wogsy

    Music Medley: Frogsy Wogsy

    Frog and flyConfetti Park is a community radio program out of New Orleans. We feature local storytellers and songs that kids love, songs created for kids, or created by kids, right here in Louisiana.This medley of kids music shows the diversity of Louisiana musicians.

    Songs featured in this episode, in order:

    • Go to Camp – Ph Fred
    • Jambalaya (On the Bayou) – Papillon
    • Froggy Went a Courtin –  The Radiators
    • Little Red Caboose – Buckwheat  Zydeco
    • Hush Little Mockingbird – Nancy Tabb Marcantel

    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!

  • Music Medley: Counting Things

    Music Medley: Counting Things

    Let's count apples!1, 2, 3, 4, 5….10! Counting things!

    Confetti Park is a community radio program out of New Orleans. We feature local storytellers and songs that kids love, songs created for kids, or created by kids, right here in Louisiana.

This medley of kids music shows the diversity of Louisiana musicians. Songs featured in this episode, in order:

    Kick Rocks – Wardell Quezergue
    Twenty Bees –  Johnette Downing
    Ten Green Bottles – Jeremy Lyons
    Frere Jacques – Swing Setters
    Hey Little Girl – Jason & Layla
    Walking in the Woods with my Parrain – Cajun Ron Black Guidry

  • Music Medley: Stars & Stripes & Crabs

    Music Medley: Stars & Stripes & Crabs

    CrabConfetti Park is a community radio program out of New Orleans. We feature local storytellers and songs that kids love, songs created for kids, or created by kids, right here in Louisiana. This medley of kids music shows the diversity of  Louisiana musicians. Songs featured in this episode, in order:

  • Music Medley: Pelican’s Bill

    Brown_PelicanConfetti Park is a community radio program out of New Orleans. We feature local storytellers and songs that kids love, songs created for kids, or created by kids, right here in Louisiana.

    This medley of kids music shows the diversity of Louisiana musicians. Songs featured in this episode, in order:

     

    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!

     

  • Music Medley: Trains and Sheep

    train on chalkConfetti Park is a community radio program out of New Orleans. We feature local storytellers and songs that kids love, songs created for kids, or created by kids, right here in Louisiana.

This medley of kids music shows the diversity of Louisiana musicians. Songs featured in this episode, in order:

    Choo Choo Boogaloo – Buckwheat Zydeco
    Choctaw Choo Choo – Confetti Park Players
    Big Brown Cow – PH Fred
    Ice Cream – George Lewis’ Ragtime Band
    Music Memory Ben Schenk
    Pig Latin Song – Leadbelly
    La chanson ee cinquante Sous – Michael “Beausoliel” Doucet With Family & Friends
    You Are My Sunshine – Confetti Park Players
    Circle Of Life – Johnette Downing

  • Music Memory from Jesse McBride

    Jessie McBride. Photo by Paula Burch, courtesy Tulane Uiversity.
    Jessie McBride. Photo by Paula Burch, courtesy Tulane University.

    Jazz pianist Jesse McBride is the director of The Next Generation (begun by Harold Battiste), which features up-and-coming talent in the exploration of modern New Orleans jazz. Jesse is also director of jazz ensembles at Tulane University.

    In this episode of Confetti Park, Jesse shares a music memory from his childhood. He talks about how encouragement from his family, and resources through his aunt’s nonprofit, the Community Music Center of Houston, fostered his love for music and cultivated his natural talent.

    According to its website, the Community Music Center has roots dating back to the late 1970s, and it was an outgrowth of the black church. One of the wonderful programs of the Community Music Center is providing individual and group lessons & ensembles for children and adults!