The Urb Alt Festival 2008

For Immediate Release

Contact: 4961 Polemics • Marketing • NYC • Atlanta
China at 404.313.5341
urbalternative@gmail.com


THIRD ANNUAL URB ALT FESTIVAL SHINES IN SUN RA CELEBRATION ON FIRST DAY OF SUMMER
V. Jeffrey Smith, Tay Zonday, Melvin Gibbs, MuthaWit and eclectic artists perform 14 Hours of Alternative Music Over 3 Days at Harlem Stage Gatehouse and BAMcafe

Saturday June 21, Noon-7pm: Harlem Stage Gatehouse
Friday June 27, 8pm and Saturday June 28, 8pm: BAMcafe

"URB ALT Festival features artists that are exemplars of boundary crossing, synthesis and
 unification." – The Village Voice

NEW YORK, NY (May 17, 2008) - The third annual URB ALT Festival brings the bleeding edge of multi-cultural music/film artists to New York City’s Harlem Stage Gatehouse and BAMcafe. On the first day of summer June 21st in conjunction with the city-wide Make Music NY, the three day URB ALT Festival launches from the Harlem Stage Gatehouse terrace with a 7 hour outdoor concert event. The festival, hosted by co-founder Shena Verrett, celebrates the legacy of Sun Ra as fused through the musical and visual creativity of internationally recognized and underground artists. Events are free with a $10 suggested donation for adults going towards registration for URB ALT gift raffles and voter registration initiatives through Rock the Vote. For more information contact Michelle at 917.328.0367 or girlsonmedia@hotmail.com

The opening day at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse features the avant-garde bass mastery of Melvin Gibbs(Rollins Band, Harriet Tubman); the soulful alternative hip hop/funk of Atlantan, Stacy Epps; the “Chocolate Rain” afforded musical ubiquity of Tay Zonday; the cosmic jazz vocal stylings of Los Angelino, Waberi Jordan; the soul laced protorock melodicism of Tenderhead; the electronica infused funk/rock of OMG; the funky blues rock of Devi; the folk/soul of honey voiced crooner Kendal; the Latin rock/punk experimentalism of Millsted; and the futuristic big band exploratory missions of the MuthaWit Orchestra(URB ALT Festival house band). Artists will be performing their original material as well as a composition from Sun Ra’s songbook.

URB ALT founder Boston Fielder, says “Sun Ra is a beacon for creators of all mediums who want to explore the connection between the spirit, entertainment and commerce. The Sun Ra Arkestra was/is a functioning politico-economic-social system that I was exposed to early in life as my cousin was a mainstay drummer for the group. It’s an honor to present some of Sun Ra’s compositions to our audience.”

June 27th and 28th finds the URB ALT Festival crossing the river into Brooklyn where the events dock at the popular BAMcafe. These two special nights of the URB ALT Festival close out the BAMcafe Live season by featuring the soul/rock gypsy sound of Brig Feltus with members of Pillow Theory; the polyphonic harp virtuosity of Brandee Younger(Ravi Coltrane); the LES reggae/rock/soul power of Faith; the rock/soul/pop songcraft mastery of V. Jeffrey Smith(Family Stand); the punk/pop/rock runway histrionics of Tenderhead; and a special collaboration between the MuthaWit Orchestra and two very special guests. Both nights will feature the computer generated
 projections of Italy based visual artist Roy Lagrone, The Matrix film series animation director Lyndon Barrois and "Harbinger" feature film director Tim Fielder.

Raffle tickets for Apple Computer products, a Daisy Rock Guitar, Airline gift certificates and more prizes included with the $10 donation. Various raffle winners will be announced and awarded during the course of each event.

Food and retail vendor space for June 21st outdoor event is available by contacting Michelle at 917-328-0367 or girlsonmedia@hotmail.com. Space is limited.

ABOUT URB ALT

URB ALT is Underground Railroad Broadcasting Alternatives, a music/film series and media company founded by Boston Fielder in 1998 to serve the creator and audience seeking uncut entertainment and artistic expression. URB ALT has offered transcendent visuals and revolutionary music by artists such as Funkadelic, Kyp Malone of TV On The Radio, Tenderhead, Arthur Jafa, Cody ChesnuTT, Res and Dragons of Zynth to enthusiastic attendees throughout the United States and Canada. URB ALT's mission to cross pollinate musical/visual experiences aims to focus artist and audience alike on how creatively expansive and socially resonant popular culture can be.
URB ALT FESTIVAL 2008 is a joint production of BossTon Communications, GirlsOn... Productions and Odd Endeavors Productions in association with The Harlem Stage Partners Program(6/21) and BAMcafe Live(6/27 and 6/28). It is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

URB ALT Festival 2008 sponsors are Pepsi, Daisy Rock Guitars, BigHead Scientists, Junkmein Media, Rock the Vote, Fusicology, Harlem Stage, BAM, and Wyndham Hotels.
For more info and promo art: www.myspace.com/urbalt, www.myspace.com/muthawit www.urbalt.com, www.harlemstage.org, www.bam.org, www.myspace.com/muthawit. or urbalternative@gmail.com