Tag: music memory

Music Memory with Scott Durbin

Music can carry powerful memories and emotions through generations, as Scott Durbin of the Imagination Movers shares with us.
Scott, whose grandmother was Native American, recalls participating in powwows at a very young age. His family’s tribe would come together to honor their cultural traditions, and music with drumming and dancing was a central component.
“I remember being very young, dressed in garb and doing a powwow, and as much as a six year old can intuit a spiritual elevation because of the music and the beat, I knew this was amazing.”
Through experiencing the resonating drum circles and participating in the spirituality of his ancestral heritage alongside his grandmother and family, he came to know the power of music early. Scott believes this may be his first clear memory of music unlocking a moment of revelation.
Journey into the past with more music memories brought to you by Confetti Park.
Music Memory from Doctor Sick

Doctor Sick. Image provided by Doctor Sick.

Doctor Sick, who might have once been called an itinerant musician, is today a fixture in the New Orleans music scene. A “musical jack of all trades,” Doctor Sick is a virtuoso musician who sings and plays stringed instruments of all kinds. He’s also a whimsical, colorful songwriter and a witty director and producer of burlesque and other theatrical novelty shows. These days, catch Doctor Sick around New Orleans in one of many diverse projects such as the Rotten Cores, the Salt Wives, Valparaiso Men’s Chorus, and numerous burlesque companies.

Adding to his illustrious resume, Doctor Sick also play kids music! He wrote songs and performed on the Austin, Texas-based Asylum Street Spankers’ children’s CD Mommy Says No!. And New Orleans’ own Confetti Park Players were delighted to have Doctor Sick as a featured artist on their first CD, We’re Going to Confetti Park! You can hear his mysterious musical saw and soulful fiddle playing on songs “Feufollet,” “Polly Wolly Wee,” “Watch Out for the Pirates,” and “Louis Lafitte, the Pirate King.”

In this music memory shared with Confetti Park, Doctor Sick shares how his parents recognized his talent early on, and set him on the path to music.

“I’ve been playing violin since I was four years old,” says Doctor Sick. “When I was very young I was taking lessons all the time. My parents made me, but I thank them for it today, because music is such an important part of my every day life.”

Doctor Sick describes a sweet memory of singing along while his grandmother played piano, when he was only two or three—they were jamming on the alphabet song.

“Before I even knew my ABCs I was trying to sing along,” he recalls. “It was the first time I ever jammed with anybody, where you’re listening and contributing and making the music with somebody else. And that’s why my parents got me into playing music, because they realized that I was going to be playing music for the rest of my life anyway.”
Music Memory from Emily Estrella

Emily 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 Leonard Service

In this episode of Confetti Park, we hear a childhood music memory from Leonard Service of Shreveport, Louisiana.

Leonard plays mandolin and guitar regularly with different groups such as Slydell and the Slippery Slope, the New Levee Serenaders, Trashcan Jinga and more. He’s also a member of the Friends of Lead Belly.

Leonard grew up in Lafayette and as a kid, he listened regularly to an evening radio show called “Night Rock” on KPEL. One night, he heard Jeff Beck’s cover of Charles Mingus’ “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.”

“I was just amazed. I’d never heard anything so moving, so beautiful,” recalls Leonard. “I saved up my money, and jumped on my bicycle, and went across town to Raccoon Records as soon as I could to buy me a copy of Jeff Beck Wired. I still have it.”

Leonard also shares a fond memory of his grandmother’s singing in a little church in Vivian.

“She sang so awful that it was just wonderful…. She loved the singing, and I loved listening to her.”
Music Memory from Hazel Schlueter

Hazel Schlueter is well known for her old time country music and bluegrass show on WWOZ (90.7 FM in New Orleans) and for her musical performances as the band leader of Hazel & the Delta Ramblers.

In this episode of Confetti Park, Hazel shares a music memory from her early childhood. When she was just three years old, she knew wanted to play music, and asker her parents for a real piano. Much to her chagrin, the piano she received was a TOY!

“My parents bought me a toy piano,” she recalls. “I was only three years old, but I looked at the toy piano and the black notes were painted on to the white notes. I knew this was not a real piano, and I was very sad.”

But little Hazel persevered, and kept on asking for a piano. About a year and a half later, her parents finally gave in.

“So kids, don’t be fooled!” advises Hazel. “Just keep asking, keep after them, and maybe your parents will come around.”
Music Memory from Roger Lewis

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 Memory from Duane Pitre

In this episode of Confetti Park, we hear a formative childhood music memory from Duane Pitre, American composer, sound artist, and guitarist.

Photo of Duane Pitre by Sharon Pye.

Duane tends to focus on one thing at a time and learns it inside and out—whether that thing is skateboarding, composing experimental music, or playing guitar. (The former pro skateboarder says he has an “obsessive personality” in this 2012 ESPN article about his journey through the worlds of skateboarding and music.)

Currently, Duane is focusing on studying classical guitar.

Duane, who was born and raised in New Orleans, says his parents regularly attended rock and heavy metal concerts, and ensured that he was immersed in a healthy soundscape of the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and the Allman Brothers. (In fact, Duane was named for Duane Allman.)

In Duane’s music memory, he reveals how a single note can emotionally affect a listener. Duane was only 5 or 6 when he put on a vinyl record of the self-titled Black Sabbath album. The mood was set by the thunderstorm, the church bells, and then the music came in…. with the tritone.

Little Duane was terrified, and immediately turned off the album, but the seeds of wonder were planted.

“It was an experience I will never forget,” says Duane. “It was the earliest musical experience of me hearing something and it really affecting me in some way…. It made me aware of the power of music.”

Thank you, Duane, for sharing this fascinating memory with Confetti Park!
Music Memory from Jayna Morgan

New Orleans jazz vocalist Jayna Morgan shares a music memory from her childhood in this episode of Confetti Park.

Jayna, who sings with the Sazerac Sunrise Jazz Band and the Swing Setters (among others), recalls the happiness of sharing music with her mother. When Jayna was a child, they would go fishing together, and whenever they would sit on the wharf, her mother would sing to her.

Sharing songs as a family can build a lifetime love of music, as we have seen with Jayna. She is a very active entertainer on the South Louisiana scene. In addition to performing with several bands, she is also a booking agent at 11th Commandment Records, owner of Fleur Decuers, and her in her spare time, a swing dancer and Lindy hopper.

Check out this interview with Jayna and the Swing Setters, a group that plays kids music jazz-style.
Music Memory from Tom Stagg

Tom Stagg experimenting with an iPod.

In this music memory for Confetti Park, jazz researcher and music promoter Tom Stagg shares how he became fascinated with New Orleans music in 1949, as a youngster growing up in England. Blame it on Louis Armstrong! He moved to New Orleans in the 1960s.

Tom Stagg is one of the owners of the New Orleans music label 504 Records, which he established in 1979. (Before that, his label was called NOLA Records.) The label specializes in traditional jazz music of New Orleans. For years, Tom was instrumental in organizing tours for New Orleans musicians such as Kid Thomas, John Handy, Emanuel Sayles, Andrew Morgan, Louis Nelson and Alton Purnell, and later, Fats Domino and Dr. John.

Tom himself was a musician for many years (bass, piano) as well as a professional wrestler! He is also from a musical family—his mother was a vocal soloist and his father was a dance band drummer.

Thank you, Tom!
Music Memory from Ted Lindsay

Ted Lindsay is a musician from Moorinsgport, Louisiana. A veteran, gold-record winning songwriter who spent several years in Nashville, Ted is a go-to bass player in north Louisiana today. He regularly performs with blues musicians Buddy Flett and Jerry Beach, and he has been a member of the core band at the legendary Monday Night Blues Jam in Shreveport for over 20 years. Ted is also a longtime member of the Friends of Lead Belly, a group of musicians dedicated to promoting the legacy of Huddie Ledbetter. And he is a teacher at the Renzi Education & Art Center in Shreveport.

Ted shares a music memory with Confetti Park about hearing the Beatles for the first time.
Music Memory from Ben Schenck

Panorama Jazz Band photo by Greg Miles

Ben Schenck is the recognizable face of the Panorama Jazz Band (and Panorama Brass Band). Tall, lanky, wielding his clarinet like a snake charmer, Schenck leads his vivacious troupes through the streets of New Orleans and on stages around the world. Their music is celebratory and joyful, drawing from New Orleans jazz, the tropical rhythms of the Caribbean and the exotic melodies of Eastern Europe.

In this episode of Confetti Park, Ben vividly recalls the elation of encountering a brass band during a parade when he was just a wee lad.

Thank you, Ben, for sharing this beautiful childhood music memory.
Music Memory from Jesse McBride

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!