Confetti Park

Tag: Marcus Page

  • Music Medley: 7-8-9

    Music Medley: 7-8-9

    numbers-7-8-9Welcome 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

    Storytime – Fair Weather Friend: A Story of Hurricane Katrina by Marcus Page

    Fair Weather Friend: A Story of Hurricane KatrinaSummertime 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: Pink Carnation

    Music Medley: Pink Carnation

    Pink-Carnation-pink-colorConfetti 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 medley of kids music shows the diversity of our state sound.

    Songs featured in this episode, in order:

    Also featured in this episode, a music memory from Cameron Meshell and the storytime feature Little Laveau, a magical bedtime story by Erin Rovin.

    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 and Music Rising at Tulane University.

    Current broadcast schedule:

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