The Uptown Collective – The Recap 3-3 to 3-8
By Led Black
March 3 – March 8
Craft beer enthusiasts rejoice! The Gun Hill Brewing Co. (3227 Laconia Ave. Bronx, N.Y.) is now open for business. The Uptown Collective’s resident beer expert and kick-ass photographer, Emil Baez, was on hand for the soft launch. Stop by and show them some Uptown Love and tell them the UC sent you.
Get ready people, the acoustic architect; Uptown’s own Frankie P will be releasing the long awaited Hazy Nights In The Heights II in a matter of days. While no official release date has been set, just know and understand this: you NEED this in your life. I had the distinct honor of getting to listen to the material and let’s just say that it was well worth the wait. Audubon, Camille Safiya and Dubwork all make outstanding guest appearances on the stellar opus. Frankie P has also teamed up with the prolific Fred Focus to release a steady stream of visuals for the project. In the interim, vibe out to the first Hazy Nights In The Heights and stay tuned for more. You have been warned!
We also featured new music from Jay Wise featuring my good friend, Tellie Floydd, entitled Barbarians. The super talented Arinn Aldo has released the first in a series of really cool videos that bring you into her world. We also posted the incredibly beautiful video for Audubon’s song Mega Church, directed by Nelson Salcedo. A good portion of the video is shot in the venerable and grandiose United Palace.
It’s Women’s History Month people, so please don’t forget to stop by the indispensable NoMAA gallery (178 Bennett Avenue) to catch the powerful Women in the Heights art exhibit that will be in place until April 9th. There will be an artist talk for the exhibit on March 19th at 6:30 pm.
The popular Best of the Boogie Down column by Jenni Ruiza featured comedian extraordinaire Idriss Alison-Konteh. The great news also broke this week that Hamilton, the long awaited new musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda of In the Heights fame, will have its world premiere at the Public Theater in 2015. Hamilton tells the rags to riches story of Alexander Hamilton and the founding fathers and is a magnificent mélange that marries history, Hip-Hop and theatre to birth something that is as informative as it is engaging.
Keep checking us out at www.uptowncollective.com.
Led Black
Editor-in-Chief
The Uptown Collective
The UC’s mission is to become “the” definitive, transformative and community-based force impacting the arts, culture, business and New York City’s overall perception of Upper Manhattan. Its objective is to reset, reboot and positively redefine Uptown’s artistic, political, cultural and business spheres via the online space as well the collective’s initiatives and functions.
