Tag: memory

Music Memory from organist Louis Mayer

Louis Mayer playing a Golding and Woods pipe organ at First English Lutheran Church in Metairie.

Louis Mayer has been a church organist for over 45 years. From a very young age, Louis had a fascination and love for organs.

In this Music Memory for Confetti Park, Louis, who grew up in New Orleans, recalls taking piano lessons at Werlein’s Music Store at 605 Canal St. (today the site of Palace Cafe) and how happy he was whenever he got to view the organs. Says Louis:

“When I was eight years old, Saturday mornings my mother would take me to Werlein’s on Canal Street. A lot of times it was like dragging me…..but if I did well, my music teacher would take me up to the 5th floor of Werlein’s, where they had the organs. And that was the greatest thing for me, to be able to play on those organs. I wasn’t big enough to reach the pedals.”

Today, Louis is the organist and choir director at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Slidell (his instrument there there is an electronic Allen organ). In the photo at left, he is playing a Golding and Woods pipe organ at First English Lutheran Church in Metairie.

Thank you, Louis, for sharing this childhood music memory!
Music Memory from 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 podcast, 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.
Storytime: Childhood in 1920s Cajun country

Storytime: Childhood in 1920s Cajun Country
Vignettes from Annie Hardy Calais

Annie Hardy Calais of Cecilia, La.

“My name is Annie Hardy Calais. I was born on July 26, 1927… The year of the great flood, the same day as St. Ann, that is the day of her feast.”

So begins this lovely memoir of Annie Hardy Calais, who shares many true stories of her childhood growing up in Cajun Country in Louisiana.

Annie, who lives in Cecilia today, was the youngest of 12 children of French descent. Deeply devoted Catholics, the family was large and loving, and the family remains close today. They extend throughout Acadiana.

Annie shares memories of her beloved mother, her tante (Cajun term for aunt) who lived with them, and the adventures of her brothers and sisters growing up in rural Louisiana in the 1920s and 1930s. One memory brings a chuckle:

“After our old house was flooded in 1927, the floorboards constricted. The planks were left with big cracks between each. When we looked down at this floor, we could see the chickens, the dogs, and the cats walk past. Mama gave each child a can of corn kernels, to drop the corn through the cracks and feed the chicks. The grandchildren loved it.”

Annie has a remarkable memory, and clearly has always had a gift for recognizing the beauty in the mundane—even as a small child. Her childhood memories of life in rural Louisiana are endearing and enrich our own understanding of this unique place.

Thank you, Annie, for sharing your wonderful stories on Confetti Park.
Music Memory from Charles Hudson

Charles Hudson on trumpet. Photo by Sally Asher

Charles Hudson is a trumpet player who plays mostly zydeco music(!). He is associated with the “royal family” of zydeco, as a regular band member of Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr. and The Zydeco Twisters. Being part of this act, Hudson not only has terrific musical chops, but high energy and dancing skills, too. (Rockin’ Dopsie is often compared to James Brown.)

Charles shares an early memory of how he got his start playing the horn as a kid. “I marched in every parade with the Stardusters Drum and Bugle Corps out of St. Bernard Parish,” says Charles.

Learn all about this storied drum and bugle corps that was based out of Arabi at http://www.louisianadrumcorps.org/stardusters/.
Music Memory from Tommy Sancton

Tommy Sancton. Photo by Sébastien Chaillot

In this episode of Confetti Park, Tommy Sancton shares one of his earliest music memories from Preservation Hall, a musical venue in the French Quarter founded in 1961 to protect, preserve, and perpetuate traditional New Orleans jazz. There, Tommy heard the sound that would guide the course of his life.

Tommy Sancton has had an illustrious career as a journalist and musician. After studies at Harvard and Oxford, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar, he began a 22-year career with Time magazine as writer, editor, and Paris bureau chief. Music has always been part of Tommy’s life. As he traveled the world, he never stopped playing his clarinet.

He also never stopped feeling the pull of home. In August 2007, Tommy left Paris for New Orleans. He now teaches at Tulane, continues to write, and plays and records frequently with numerous traditional jazz bands. Visit his website to learn more.

Tommy has a beautiful memoir called Song for My Fathers: A New Orleans Story in Black and White, published in 2006, which recounts his experiences at Preservation Hall and explores his childhood apprenticeship with clarinetist George Lewis and other musicians, as well as his relationship with his own father.
Music Memory from Jason Rhein

Jason Rhein is the bassist in New Orleans’ acclaimed rock band Rotary Downs, as well as singer-songwriter in the brother-sister children’s group Jason & Layla. Jason is also the owner of Elephant Quilt production studio and a partner at Marigny Recording Studio. Through these entities, Jason has had a major impact on the contemporary sound of New Orleans. Jason shares with us a special music memory from his childhood.
Music Memory from Layla Isis Ellison

Layla Isis Ellison is half of the brother-sister duo Jason & Layla, who write and perform original children’s music. While Layla lives in New York City, where she is a professional dancer, she regularly returns to her home state of Louisiana to perform onstage at children’s festivals. Here, she shares with us a music memory from her own Baton Rouge childhood.

Jason & Layla
Music Memory from Alan Dyson

Alan Dyson is a singer-songwriter, artist, and architect from Shreveport, La. Here is a music memory from his childhood.

Alan Dyson