Jump Arts’ American Road Project features 14 dancers, poets and painters representing New York’s “Downtown” arts scene. Some of the acts, like avant-jazz trio Gold Sparkle Band, will be familiar to local audiences. But the project is a chance to take part in a multi-media event: live painting by M.P. Landis, poet Steve Dalachinsky, woodwinds wiz Sabir Mateen and free-form improvisation courtesy of jazz quartet The Transcendentalists, along with modern dance performances. While the nonprofit Jump Arts organization performs festivals regularly in NYC, this is one of only five stops on the group’s itinerary, making it a happening, baby. Says the Gold Sparkle Band’s Charles Waters, “This is our first big road tour and a big leap for us in trying to move forward since 9/11, which has seriously effected the art scene in downtown NYC.” Experience three hours of envelope-pushing entertainment Wednesday, May 1, 8 p.m. at Hill Auditorium at UNC-Chapel Hill. Call 962-1039 for details. —Angie Carlson
