Photo Courtesy: Thomas Zalbinger
By Danielle Cruz
Nine York College students released their self produced CD on May 14 as part of their Music 299 class.
The album, New York Avenue Records Compilation Vol. 3, is the third time a group of students have come together to produce an album showcasing the diverse musical talents at York.
“The students did AMAZING work,” said Thomas Zlabinger, an assistant music professor at York. “It’s a diverse collection! And they proposed their tracks, demoed them, revised them, the tracks were mastered, and then I pressed a CD!”
According to Zlabinger the CD’s were produced in various places, with some being recorded at home and others in the recording studio in room LL02.
To celebrate the release of the CD the students hosted an album release party in the Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center where the performed and presented the tracks they had worked on during the semester.
First up during the showcase was Joe Ferrari on the saxophone, whose track Original Orange Head, was inspired by nigerian musician Fela Kuti.
“Fela was a incredible musician and composers and he also was a big thorn in the side of the nigerian government for over 20 or 30 years,” said Ferrari. “The name of the composition is original orange head. I wonder if you can guess who the orange head is.”
Olivia Lattore went up next and played her track, O The Rose, a song that she said was heavily influenced by Travis Scott and is the first track she has ever completed.
Then following in the theme of instrumentals violinist, Daijha Rabalais, performed her track TRANQUILITY BLUE.
Israel Ponte also presented his instrumental track The Grand Battle, which he composed for a video game.
“It is meant to be played at the end of the game at the beginning of the final battle sequence,” said Ponte.
Rapper, Gra.CD performed his track Blessed for the audience, a track he said produced as an ode to his self journey.
“It is basically a story about overcoming my shyness and becoming more alive,” said Gra.CD. “It’s just about how music changed my life from a depressed kid to confident and just happy.”
Ashton Webb performed his track, Pencils, alongside 2 other vocalist and 2 guitarist. Webb said he wrote the song to raise awareness on the different forms of depression.
“I wrote this song to step away from the idea of depression, being this crazy suicidal feeling,” said Webb. “I know there are a lot of kids out there that don’t understand what they are going through and don’t want to give it a label because the media portrays depression as ‘oh I want to kill myself’ and that’s not just what it is. It comes in many different forms.”
Up next was singer, Tiffany Holland who performed her original track The Key.
“I made it (The Key) when I was going through one of my really darkest places last semester,” said Holland. “But I had a little bit of help, obviously when you hear the song, from my mom. She is one of the people who really helped me come up with the song, especially when I was going through the rough rough times.”
Leonna Prithwipaul, a singer/guitarist, performed her song The Way, a song that she said came out of a jam session she was having with one of her fellow classmates.
“With this song it is more of a message on we all go through things in our life some we choose some we don’t,” said Prithwipaul. “There’s no really right or wrong way to handle a situation. With this song i just felt a vibe of keep of just keep on until you can’t keep on.”
The release party ended with Nick Liddie performing his track Freedom on the drums.
The CD’s are free so anyone interested in getting a copy can either speak to Zlabinger or go on SoundCloud and search up New York Avenue Records Compilation Vol. 3.
