Confetti Park Children's Workshop

Tag: louisiana

  • Music Medley – Beets at the Door

    Music Medley – Beets at the Door

    Beets with facesConfetti 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:
    Woody, Lead Belly & Pete – Ph Fred
    Pig Latin Song – Lead Belly
    Woodpecker – a poem by Nola Frazier
    Lost in the Library – Judy Caplan Ginsburgh
    O’Guillori – Michael Doucet
    This Old Man – The Swing Setters
    Goodbye in the Bayou – Jazzy Ash

    Also featured in this episode, a music memory from Layla Isis and a story called Dixie the Old Dog by Tommie Townsley.

     

    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!

    Subscribe on iTunes

    The radio program version launched on April 4, 2015 in New Orleans on WHIV FM and is supported by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, OffBeat magazine and Music Rising at Tulane University.

    Current broadcast schedule:

    Community radio stations, interested in carrying Confetti Park? Contact Katy Ray.

  • Music Medley: Desert Snow Man

    Music Medley: Desert Snow Man

    Listen to this music medley "Desert Snow Man" from Confetti Park!Confetti Park: Children’s Music Radio Show from Louisiana

    This medley of kids music shows the diversity of Louisiana musicians.

    Songs featured in this episode, in order:

    Also featured in this episode, a story called “The Lord’s Supper” by Ms. Chocolate and a music memory from Dirty Dozen saxophone player Roger Lewis.

    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!

    Subscribe on iTunes

    The radio program version launched on April 4, 2015 in New Orleans on WHIV FM and is supported by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, OffBeat magazine and Music Rising at Tulane University.

    Current broadcast schedule:

    Community radio stations, interested in carrying Confetti Park? Contact Katy Ray.

  • Storytime: The Beaver’s Tale of Greed narrated by Iran Martin

    Storytime: The Beaver’s Tale of Greed narrated by Iran Martin

    Grand's Fairy Tales by Iran and Henryell Martin
    Grand’s Fairy Tales by Iran and Henryell Martin

    In this episode of Confetti Park, we hear “The Beaver’s Tale of Greed” by Iran Martin, from his book Grand’s Fairy Tales. This is an adapted version of a Grimm’s fairy tale called the “Fisherman and his Wife.”

    In the older version of the tale, which was first written in Germany in the 1800s, a poor fisherman and his wife are blessed with wishes by a magical fish in exchange for releasing it. However, the wife becomes greedy and the husband, who wants to please her, goes along with her ever-more selfish demands to the fish.

    In this version, adapted and narrated by Iran Martin along with his wife Henryell, the main character is a trapper who saves the life of a magical beaver, and the story takes place in a forest.

    “I plead with you. Let me live.”

    The old trapper stared in disbelief. Never had he trapped a talking beaver before!

    Iran and Henryell live in Bossier City, in north Louisiana. They are native New Orleanians who moved to north Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. “The Beaver’s Tale of Greed” and all of the tales and fables in Grand’s Fairy Tales are steeped in Louisiana folklore and imagery of the forests, bayous and other water ways of our beautiful state. And many of them offer a moral for the reader to take away.

    You can look forward to more stories from Iran and Henryell Martin on Confetti Park!

    Buy Grand’s Fairy Tales on Amazon.

    Iran & Henryell Martin
    Iran & Henryell Martin
  • Music Medley: Dickory Dock

    Music Medley: Dickory Dock

    Fishing boatLouisiana Kids Music

    This Confetti Park medley of kids music showcases the diversity of Louisiana music. Songs featured in this episode:

    I Was Born To Blow This Horn – Michael-Leon Wooley
    Ballin’ the Jack – The Swing Setters
    Throw Me Something Mista (Feat. Mista Cookie Jar) – Jazzy Ash
    This Land is Your Land – Renzi Center Kids
    Sue – Michael “Beausoliel” Doucet With Family & Friends
    Hands and Feet (Are to Myself) – Patricia Reece

    Stories, poems, interviews….

    Also featured in this episode, The Jungle Grapevine narrated by Alex Beard, a music memory from Anthony Dopsie, and poems by Hrilina, Belen, Eleanor, and Dameon.

    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!

    Subscribe on iTunes

    The radio program is supported by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, OffBeat magazine and Music Rising at Tulane University.

    Current broadcast schedule:

    Community radio stations, interested in carrying Confetti Park? Contact Katy Ray.

  • Music Medley: Frog on a Lily Pad

    Music Medley: Frog on a Lily Pad

    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:

    Also featured in this episode, a story called Gumbo, Fried Cheese, The Saints, and Drew Brees, by Patricia Reese; a Music Memory from David Rosser; and several poems. Here is a poem of childhood by Peter Cooley, Louisiana poet laureate.

    And here are Confetti Park Players Eleanor and Manele Anika with their original poems.

    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!

    Subscribe on iTunes

    Confetti Park is supported by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, OffBeat magazine and Music Rising at Tulane University.

    Current broadcast schedule:

    Community radio stations, interested in carrying Confetti Park? Contact Katy Ray.

     

  • Polly Wolly Wee, the animated music video!

    Polly Wolly Wee, the animated music video!

    One of my favorite songs performed by the Confetti Park Players is “Polly Wolly Wee,” a.k.a. “The Frog Song.” You can hear the song on our first album, and now, you can watch an adorable stop-motion animated music video created by the kids! This was made at the wonderful Mini Art Center in Algiers Point.

    I first heard this cute folk song on a Lead Belly recording. Lead Belly is an important musical influence in my life. I grew up in Shreveport where there is a statue of Huddie Ledbetter standing in front of the public library downtown on Texas Street. I’m part of a group of Louisiana musicians who gather around his grave every October to sing his songs.  This October 2017 will be the 25th year we hold our informal gathering!!! (I joined up around 2000.)

    Lead Belly started singing to children later in his career, so of course I have plumbed his recordings since I myself have become a children’s musician. I have listened to a lot of Lead Belly, but I think I love the Smithsonian Folkways compilation Lead Belly Sings for Children most. His version of “Polly Wolly Wee” has such a pleasant vibe to it. When Lead Belly sings it, he does not have call and response on it,  but that’s what the song creates…. I just can’t help but respond to him and I’ve had a good time re-creating it with the Confetti Park Players!!!

     

  • Music Medley: Royal Bees

    Music Medley: Royal Bees

    cartoon of queen beeConfetti 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 celebrates the mighty bee! The songs also showcase a diversity of Louisiana musical styles.
    Songs featured in this episode, in order:

    We’re Going to Confetti Park – Confetti Park Players
    Be My Honey Bee – Greg Schatz
    Busy Beeline –  Johnette Downing and the Original Dixieland Jazz Band
    Three Little Birds – Renzi Center Kids
    Bumble Bee – Ginger & the Bee and the Confetti Park Players
    Sugar “Shuga”  Bee – Papillon
    Animal Planet – a poem by Marcus Page
    How Doth the Little Busy Bee – Isaac Watts, narrated by Louis Ray
    Twenty Bees – Johnette Downing


    Also featured in this episode: A misadventure in beekeeping by Louisiana beekeeper Dan Hobgood for Confetti Park Storytime. He shares a true story from his childhood:

    Marcus Page shares a poem called “Animal Planet.”

    And Confetti Park Player Louis Ray narrates a poem about bees written by Isaac Watts.

     

    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!

    Subscribe on iTunes

    The radio program version is supported by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, OffBeat magazine and Music Rising at Tulane University.

    Current broadcast schedule:

    Community radio stations, interested in carrying Confetti Park? Contact Katy Ray.

     

  • A Christmas Music Medley from Louisiana: Snow & Tell

    A Christmas Music Medley from Louisiana: Snow & Tell

    Snow falls over streetcars in New Orleans. Photo by Sally Asher.
    A rare snow falls over Saint Charles Avenue streetcars in New Orleans. Photo by Sally Asher.

    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, inspired by life here Louisiana. This is a special Christmas medley of songs that kids of all ages will love…. it certainly showcases the diversity of our Louisiana sound!

    Songs featured in this episode, in order:

    Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer –  Fats Domino
    Joke of the Day – Snow & Tell
    I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus – Hadley Castille & The Louisiana Cajun Band
    Zat You, Santa Claus? – Louis Armstrong
    Sleigh Ride – Debbie Davis & Matt Perrine
    Mele Kalikimaka – Debbie Davis & Matt Perrine
    Winter Wonderland – Linnzi Zaorski
    It Came Upon a Midnight Clear – Michael Doucet 

    Also featured in this episode, Rosemary the Garden Fairy teaches us about the beautiful amaryllis. We hear “A Christmas Song” composed and performed by Zoey of the Confetti Park Players, a music memory from Crystal Thomas, and the story JuJu Saves Christmas in da Bayou, narrated by author Michelle Hirstius.

  • Storytime: Juju saves Christmas in da Bayou by Michelle Hirstius

    Storytime: Juju saves Christmas in da Bayou by Michelle Hirstius

    Night Before Christmas - two versions
    Lucky Louisiana kids have many interesting takes on holiday classics…. and one that is beloved worldwide is the Cajun Night Before Christmas, adapted from the classic version (which dates back to the early 1800s) by James Rice in 1974.

    ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro’ the house
    Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
    The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
    In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

    In the Cajun version, the story is told in Cajun dialect:

    Twas the night before Christmas an’ all t’ru de house,
    Dey don’t a ting pass Not even a mouse.
    De chirren been nezzle good snug on de flo’,
    An’ Mama pass de pepper t’ru de crack on de do’.

    In Trosclair’s eyewitness account, St. Nicholas drives a skiff which rises up over the swamps led by alligators instead of reindeer!

    “Ha, Gaston! Ha, Tiboy! Ha, Pierre an’ Alcee’! Gee, Ninette! Gee, Suzette! Celeste an’ Renee’!”

    JuJu saves Christmas in da BayouNow, the legend grows, thanks to the imagination of New Orleans children’s author and illustrator Michelle Hirstius.

    Michelle is the creator of the adorable series about JuJu, a good voodoo doll who brings good luck and fortune to those she encounters. In JuJu Saves Christmas in da Bayou, we learn the backstory of how Santa’s reindeer became gators.

    Every year Santa delivers presents to all the boys and girls, but this year Santa gets into a pickle! Juju the GOOD voodoo is there to help… see how Juju saves Christmas! 

     

    What fun! Thanks, Michelle, for sharing your Christmas tale with Confetti Park.

    Learn about all of JuJu’s adventures at http://www.michellehirstius.com/

     

  • Storytime: Coming Up Cajun by Carrie Delatte

    Storytime: Coming Up Cajun by Carrie Delatte

    Coming Up Cajun by Carrie DelatteIt’s Confetti Park Storytime! In this episode, author Carrie Delatte narrates her children’s book Coming Up Cajun, which is based on the true tales of two little boys growing up in the heart of Cajun Country.

    Full of nature, this sweet tale told in rhyming verse captures some of the wholesome outdoor activities, daily chores, and good times of Carrie’s own children.

    “From the green of the land, to the blue of the bayous, they made the best of their time in the splendour of a Southern youth,” says Carrie.

    The story is educational for how it captures all the activities that are part of daily life for kids growing up in the country, such as gathering eggs, trapping, fishing, hunting, loading bales of hay, tending livestock, paddling in their pirogues…. In addition, Coming Up Cajun is chock full of Cajun French vocabulary, and Carrie includes a handy glossary for readers’ benefit.

    Carrie DelatteBorn and raised in quaint Gheens, Louisiana, Carrie Delatte is the proud mother of four young children. She was brought up on a small farm off of Central Bayou Lafourche, and she enjoys southern living and the beauty of nature.

    Carrie was diagnosed at the age of seven with the neurological disorder known as Tourette’s Syndrome. Carrie has vowed to donate 10% of proceeds from each title she releases to the Tourette’s Association of America (formerly called the National Tourette’s Syndrome Association) to further assist in the search for a cure, research and educational purposes. Her one outlet from the daily life of a “ticcer” is her writing.

    Thank you so much, Carrie, for sharing your stories with Confetti Park!

  • “Go for it!” Crystal Thomas shares a funny childhood music memory about gumption

    “Go for it!” Crystal Thomas shares a funny childhood music memory about gumption

    Crystal Thomas is a singer and a trombonist in Shreveport
    Crystal Thomas is a singer and a trombonist in Shreveport

    Crystal Thomas is a Shreveport-based songwriter, singer and trombonist who regularly performs around Louisiana. A performer of the blues and gospel, you can find her (if not in churches) at various clubs like Southern Soul Lounge and at the venerated Monday Night Blues Jam at Lee’s in Shreveport.

    In this episode of Confetti Park, Crystal shares a delightful story about how her desire to perform overcame her lack of musical know-how when she was just a child.

    “I was in the third grade and we had a Mother’s Day Program and they wanted everyone to participate. Being a music lover, I was like, ‘Well I’ll play the piano!’

    ‘I couldn’t play the piano….didn’t know how to play the piano! But my love for music…prompted me to getup to the piano, sit down and play. And everyone loved it. I think they applauded more because I had the gumption, the nerve…..I basically made up a song on the spot, in front of the entire school.’”

    Crystal goes on to explain that she believes her music memory can serve as an example for children to not be afraid to dream big.

    “Never be afraid to push and follow your dreams,” says Crystal. “Shoot for the stars, and wherever hard work takes you, apply yourself. You can achieve and accomplish anything.”

  • Validating a child’s talent can set them on a lifelong musical journey

    Validating a child’s talent can set them on a lifelong musical journey

    Judy Caplan Ginsburgh has been performing children's music since 1981.
    Judy Caplan Ginsburgh has been performing children’s music since 1981.

    In this episode of Confetti Park, we hear a special childhood memory from Judy Caplan Ginsburgh of Alexandria, Louisiana, an internationally recognized and multi-award winning performer, recording artist and educator.

    Judy sings as a cantorial soloist and travels throughout North America presenting concerts, residencies, educational keynotes and workshops. Judy works actively in both Jewish and non-Jewish settings and she has developed a number of interactive, educational performances and arts-in-education residencies for school-age children. She has been creating children’s music since 1981!

    Judy shares how important the validation of adults can be when it comes to nurturing a child’s natural talents and interests, and how an experience that  happened when she was just eight years old set her on a career in music!

    Says Judy: “We had a music teacher who came to our school maybe every other week, and she would do music with all the children in the school.

    At one point our local symphony here in Rapides parish needed a children’s chorus… and they auditioned people at our elementary school.

    I remember a gentleman coming, he listened to all of us, and we sang, I think, “Happy Birthday.” And we sang in groups of like five. And he walked in front of us and listened to us, and picked certain people to be in this children’s chorus.

    I was one of those that was picked, when I was about 8 years old, and at that moment, I knew that I was good. That my voice was good. Someone had validated me…..

    I’m still in touch with this gentleman, by the way, and I always tell him that he’s responsible for making sure that I went into music as my career.”

    Thank you, Judy, for sharing your childhood music memory with Confetti Park!

    Learn more about Judy at http://www.judymusic.com/ and check out this more in depth interview with Judy.