THE LANGSTON HUGHES PROJECT: ASK YOUR MAMA (12 MOODS FOR JAZZ) Comes to the Lakewood Cultural Center

The Lakewood Cultural Center willhost The Langston Hughes Project: Ask Your Mama (12 Moods for Jazz), a dynamic multimedia jazz concert featuring the Ron McCurdy Quartet. This acclaimed production, named “Live Experience of the Year” at the 2016 JazzFM Awards in London, will take place on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. Presented in conjunction with Black History Month, the performance features spoken word, music, history, visual arts and poetry, bringing Langston Hughes’ kaleidoscopic jazz poem suite, “Ask Your Mama,” to vivid life.

NEA grant and historical significance

The Lakewood Cultural Center was recently awarded a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in support of this production, underscoring the cultural importance of the work.

Hughes’ poem suite is a homage in verse and music to the struggle for artistic and social freedom at home and abroad at the beginning of the 1960s. Together, the words, sounds and images recreate a magical moment in our cultural history that bridges the Harlem Renaissance, the Beat Writers’ coffeehouse movement and the Black Arts performance explosion of that vibrant and tumultuous decade, which still resonates today. Kabin Thomas, classical music host for Colorado Public Radio, lends his voice to Hughes’ powerful poem as part of the production.

The Ron McCurdy Quartet performance

Ron McCurdy, Ph.D., followed Hughes' original musical cues — drawn from blues, gospel, Latin rhythms, and more — to create an original musical accompaniment for the poem. The piece is performed by the impressively versatile McCurdy on trumpet and his talented group of musicians on piano, bass and drums, who make heads bob, fingers snap and feet tap as the audience is enveloped in this multifaceted work.

Visual arts exhibition: “Words Matter”

In parallel with the concert, the North Gallery at the Cultural Center will present a group exhibition titled “Words Matter: Works inspired by how the written and spoken language shapes our lives,” running from late January through March. This show highlights artists working within book arts, text manipulations, spoken word, literature and visual arts informed by text relationships. The gallery is free and open to the public during the Cultural Center’s regular hours.

Community engagement and youth competition

The Cultural Center is expanding the impact of the project through robust community engagement events:

Youth spoken word competition: A competition for youth will culminate in the winners performing their pieces as the “opening act” for the Feb. 28 concert. The Ron McCurdy Quartet will accompany the readings with original music composed by McCurdy.

Public gallery reception: A free public gallery reception on Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. will feature performances by the other youth spoken word artists who submitted pieces, along with the opportunity to meet the visual artists exhibiting in the North Gallery.