Langston Hughes Project - Dr. Ron McCurdy – Wednesday, April 21 -7pm
Main Classroom Auditorium
(818) 429-2494

As part of the 2010 Black Aspirations celebration,  the planning team will present “Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz”, a multi-media concert based on a poetic masterwork by poet/playwright LANGSTON HUGHES, at the Main Classroom Auditorium at Cleveland State University on April 21 at 7pm.  Internationally recognized scholar Dr. Ron McCurdy Quartet will perform Hughes’ insightful, wise, poignant, funny and soulful, poem accompanied by a live jazz quartet, and video images of the Harlem Renaissance by African American artists and photographers including Jacob Lawrence, Gordon Parks and Romare Bearden.

Tickets are free of charge and will be available in the Department of Student Life (Main Classroom Building Room106.  For questions about tickets and campus logistics related to the perfiormance, please call Dr. Jim Drnek at 216-687-2048.

“Ask Your Mama” is an 800-line, twelve part poetic suite written by noted African American poet/writer/playwright LANGSTON HUGHES in 1961. This work is described as a multimedia presentation that recreates Hughes’ vision of the global struggle for freedom in the coming, turbulent decade.  The piece itself is an original work conceived by USC Professor and Chair of Jazz Studies DR. RON McCURDY, and DR. JOHN S. WRIGHT, Morse-Amoco Distinguished Teaching Professor of Afro-American Studies & African Studies and English at the University of Minnesota.  A scholarly exploration of the original work by Dr. Wright revealed that Hughes had originally included musical cues to accompany his poem, intending to work with musical contemporaries on a full production; regrettably, Hughes died in 1967 before a production could be developed.  Dr. Wright felt that the unrealized work had enormous potential, not only to entertain, but more importantly to introduce modern audiences to the power of Hughes’ words and the eloquence of his political discourse.  A collaborative effort between Drs. Wright and McCurdy expanded on Hughes’ original concept, adding images from the Harlem Renaissance gleaned from Dr. Wright’s work at the Schomberg Research Center in Harlem, and an accompanying jazz suite based on Hughes’ original notes, composed and arranged by Dr. McCurdy and Eli Bruggeman.  As the McCURDY/WRIGHT CONSORT, these two gentlemen have presented “THE LANGSTON HUGHES PROJECT” in both performances and master classes on the college circuit and for African American Heritage celebrations throughout the nation.  Information about The Langston Hughes Project is available at: http://www.ronmccurdy.com/about_hudges_project.htm

Dr. Ronald C. McCurdy is Chairman of the Jazz Studies Department and Professor of Music in the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California (USC) and is Past President of the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE). Prior to his appointment at USC he served as Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at USC. He has served as Professor of Music and chair of the Afro-African American Studies Department and served as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Minnesota. In 1997, Dr. McCurdy served as Visiting Professor at Maria-Sklodowska- Curie University in Lublin, Poland. In 2001 Dr. McCurdy received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Kansas.
 
Dr. McCurdy recently released CD titled, Once Again for the First Time on the INNOVA label and is author of Meet the Great Jazz Legends, published by Alfred Publishing Co. Dr. McCurdy is co-author of a vocal jazz improvisation series titled Approaching the Standards, published by Warner Bros.  He is currently touring The Langston Hughes Project, Ask Your Mama: 12 Mood for Jazz. The multimedia presentation features jazz quartet, spoken-word and images from the Harlem Renaissance.

Dr. McCurdy is in demand as a guest clinician, soloist, speaker, director of honor Jazz Ensembles and Choirs throughout the United States and Canada. He has directed All State Jazz Ensembles in New York, Texas, Arizona, Vermont, Nebraska, Ohio, Nevada, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Florida to name a few. Dr. McCurdy received his undergraduate degree from Florida A & M University and his Masters and Ph. D. degrees from the University of Kansas.

Dr. McCurdy is a consultant to the Grammy Foundation educational programs including serving as director of the National Grammy Vocal Jazz Ensemble. He served as Director of the Walt Disney All-American Summer College Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Singers in Orlando, Florida for seven years and continues to serve as a consultant for the college program. A few of the guest artists he has worked with include Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney, Leslie Uggams, Arturo Sandoval, Diane Schuur, Ramsey Lewis, Mercer Ellington, Dr. Billy Taylor, Maynard Ferguson, Lionel Hampton, and Dianne Reeves. He has served as a member of the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Camp faculty. Dr. McCurdy is a performing artist for the Yamaha International Corporation.