Released: 08/21/09
Personnel: Syl DuBenion - alto saxophone (all tracks except For My Mother), electric guitar (Format, Run This Town); Aaron DuBenion - trumpet (Rumor)
Afro-Fresh Impressions is my first full length release. I've worked very hard on this, and I decided I wanted people to get a chance to listen to it, so I'm giving it away for free. I'm not concerned with making money right now. I'd rather get to know your opinions.
DOWNLOAD HERE
01 Format
This is the track that I spent the most time with on this release... After a gig at the Buffalo Convention Center,
and after my trip to the Colored Musician's Club, I got home and had the layout for this song etched in my brain
almost immediately. I didn't want to forget it, so I quickly opened up FL Studio and got to work. I had a simple
idea that I worked on for months (I started this in September... Or maybe October). Well, that soon turned to
January... Where I was an idiot and forgot to back up my whole music projects folder when I formatted my computer.
I had a bunch of unfinished stuff, but I was really upset that I lost this. That night, I remade the song and
now it felt like it flowed better. I worked and worked and worked.... But I still couldn't get a melody for it.
Come May, I finally found an idea and set it down. I had finished the song and it sounded great. And then... I lost
it AGAIN in another format of my computer. This time I was pissed, because I had way more stuff for this album.
I used a program to recover everything I lost, and I don't know how, but THIS song was the ONLY music file that
came out perfect with no missing parts or chopped up sound bytes. It is aptly titled Format because... Well, take a
guess.
02 Room for Improvement
Room for Improvement has become my new favorite term... It's a room that can never be filled and it only gets
better when you put more into it. I got the term from Drake's first mixtape. That mixtape is the reason I started
listening to hip-hop again. He's an amazing man, and he's been a real impact on my life. I discovered the mixtape
in 2007, but I had known he was a rapper since at least 2005... Now that everyone is on his dick, err, I mean...
Now that everyone loves him, he's finally going to start getting the attention he's deserved for over three years.
I'm using an instrumental I made of Amerie's "Can We Go" featuring Carl Thomas from her second album, "Touch."
03 Rewind That
To be honest, I've only been listening to Christian Scott for a year but his music and the way he carries himself
has influenced me almost as much as Drake has. I also have to admit... The first time I listened to Rewind That
(the album), I thought it was boring and flat. That is probably because I listened to Anthem first and it blew me
away. I visited his site one day in March or February and Rewind That (the song) was playing... And I didn't
remember it being that dope. So I decided to remake the song so I could get down with it. Oh uh... I relistened to
the album and it was nothing like I remembered. Amazing, and worthy of the Grammy nomination.
04 Why Are You So Mean Today, Syl?
One of my friends thought I was purposely making fun of something he liked (you know, I probably was). He coined
the phrase "Why are you so mean today, Syl?" and I just laughed. So other people started using it, and I turned
it into a song title. The melody (played by the piano) came to me a few different times, and I thought about using
it as just a pattern to incorporate into solos. Then one night after a very long rehearsal at the Colored Musicians
Club, I decided to turn it into a song and still do the former.
05 Run This Town
Yes, a cover of a hip-hop song. I heard it a day after it came out and that night I worked on the track. Finished
the whole thing in a day. The song is powerful... And I like the line "Fuck the other side, they jealous / We got
a banquet full of ladies, they got a table full of fellas (EEEWWWWWW!)." I don't run this town called Buffalo,
but I'm going to be coming back in three to five years to claim ownership.
06 Instant Happy
I have a really cool friend who would draw me pictures in out 8th period study hall. She's so very sweet and she's
definitely someone I'm never going to forget. One of the pictures she drew was of a robot that said "I'm no
instant happy!" Well, this song is dedicated to her. She's one of instant happies. The melody with the sine wave
is actually something I picked up from one of the scene change themes on Fresh Prince. From season four. Yes, I
watch FP way too much.
07 Suspense
This song. A remix of a Mega Man 9 tune of the same name. I had the idea in my head for a little bit before I laid
it down in FL Studio. I finished it in about six or seven hours. I'm really happy with the way it turned out, bad
recording aside. I uploaded it on my Myspace right away, which is good... Since I also lost this in the first
format. It took forever for me to figure out how to get it OFF of Myspace (I couldn't download it, they changed
something about that feature). I had to basically steal a song from my own Myspace. Feels good, man.
08 Rumor feat. Aaron DuBenion
Yes. My little brother, Aaron. Trumpeter. Came through and only took two takes on his solo. We were in a
competition in February and one of the contestants asked us to make a song together. She said we were really great
and she said we should work together on more things. Well, somehow I made it happen... So this kind of fufills her
request. This is dedicated to her. This song was originally written by Matt Stevens for Christian Scott's band.
09 For My Mother
A track from "The Love Movement" by A Tribe Called Quest. Their last album, actually... It's originally titled
"4 Moms," but I didn't like that. Thought it was a tacky name... But yeah. Dedicated to my mother.
10 Blues' Theme
My favorite song ever to play. Proto Man / Blues' whistle from Mega Man 3. It's become his trademark. I recall
some of the main themes of some other songs on this release (Rewind That / Why Are You SO Mean Today, Syl?). I
just had a lot of fun with this. I hope you enjoy it.
This was a tiring process, to be honest. Probably because of the formats, but whatever. This is me up until now.
I won't stop growing and succeeding, I want to become better and better. For no one other than myself.
Thanks for listening. Labels: Projects
