BY JEMUEL CAINGLET SALTERIO
They were still in college two decades ago and that was when 3rd Avenue informally started. Originally, they were known as an acoustic trio.
“We were simply making lunch money from our gigs that early,” shared vocalist and founder Paolo Ledesma.
“We were still looking forward to how the group will evolve and offer something new to our partners, fans and supporters. It was just for fun. When it was mid-terms or finals, we didn’t play. Nothing serious at that time.”
They started at College of Saint Benilde (CSB), where Paolo and Beng Gatmaitan (drummer and co-founder) finished Interdisciplinary Studies major in Spanish. “We finished college so after, we were still idealistic. We all ended up doing corporate jobs,” said Paolo.
“We stopped playing then one time, I realized I missed performing,” he continued. “I had this friend who invited me to join her in their show. I was already working at that time.
“I called up my former bandmates and asked them if they wanted to play again. All of us agreed. That was 2004, so we counted our anniversary from that time on. We started an acoustic band, so we simply continued with it.”
They eventually ended up quitting their day jobs and returned to performing and they became five in the band. There was no more turning back for them.
Today, however, 3rd Avenue is composed of a group of singers and musicians doing a lot of events, weddings, corporate shows. They were discovered in a wedding in 2007 when they released an album, “3rd Avenue in Time,” produced by Barnyard Music.
The album got an Awit Award for Best Performance by a New Group. When the group did the rounds of provinces, they released a single, “Aking Hiling.”
“In a day, we can do four or five events,” Paolo said. “Even the model, it evolved. We are not the typical band which has only one group. When you say 3rd Avenue, it’s composed of different musicians and regular singers.”
For artists in the live events industry, 3rd Avenue is undeniably the most in-demand musical group for the past two decades, offering unparalleled entertainment to almost all types of joyous events — weddings, parties, corporate events.
On September 26, 3rd Avenue will celebrate a big milestone, their 20th anniversary, with a forward-looking concert, “3rd Aveinte,” at the Music Museum.
“3rd Aveinte,” the concert, promises to give the public a glimpse of the group’s future. Aveinte is a play on “avenue,” “twenty” and “forward” — a fitting title to encapsulate the band’s 20-year journey and the exciting things that will come everyone’s way.
Paolo, who is the concert director, adds this is also the team’s way of expressing gratitude to everyone who has helped propel the band to being the foremost musical group in the live events realm amid numerous challenges.
“It will be a great night of music, celebration of partnership and friendship,” said Beng. “With signature sound of the band, punctuated with impressive vocal harmonies, the concert will be one unforgettable night of music.”
“At present, we have a total of 12 singers, not including the band. We have packages that start from only two singers. The biggest group has five singers excluding the band. We have 20 musicians on rotation.
“For the rhythm section, we tapped only the core members of 3rd Avenue for the concert. But we will feature all singers in a production number.”
They never went mainstream, but there was no one to blame. “When we were younger, that was really the plan,” Paolo shared. “To go mainstream. That was our dream. Somehow, over the years, the group evolved. Today, we operate like a company.
“Our singers and musicians are all on rotation and deployment. In a day, sometimes, we have four events and we need multiple singers, sometimes as many as five in one event. We concentrated more on the brand, not really the faces or the members of the band.”
The concert will showcase 3rd Avenue’s evolving talent as the group performs a refreshing set list with DJ Toons, “Asian Cutie” Albert Nicolas and Aia De Leon (formerly of Imago) as special guests.
3rd Avenue will launch two original songs that will be part of a 20-track album collection to be released in the coming months.
3rd Avenue is composed of Paolo, who is the concert director and writer is his wife, Nina Ledesma, Joy Reyes, Muriel de la Paz, Alchris Ramirez on vocals, rhythm section led by musical director Migs Nuñez on keys, co-musical director Gino Madrid on guitar.
Gian Yap on bass guitar, Lester Cerda on saxophone, Anthony Dio on drums/percussion and composer/songwriter Beng on drums/percussion.
