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Ask Your Mama -- a fresh experiment in words, music, images and ideas.
On June 18th, the rapper and actor Ice-T will be on stage with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and a Los Angeles jazz combo led by Ron McCurdy. Phat nasty beats from the timpani and self-indulgent bassoon solos right?
Sure, maybe. Ask Your Mama.
See that’s the evening’s other wildcard: Langston Hughes published a poem in 1961 called Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz. It’s an epic document of American identity as experienced through the Harlem Renaissance. And right on the page with the poem’s verses are Hughes’ non-musical musical notations – it’s how he described the music he wanted to hear as the poem was read aloud.
But for reasons lost to history, the piece was never realized in the way Hughes envisioned. Enter Ron McCurdy.
McCurdy is a trumpet player and director of the jazz department at USC. He’s scored the musical side of the poem, and has been reading it to live accompaniment at colleges and small venues. The ISO saw it on a larger stage, with a bigger name. And hell yes, it’s a bigger risk.
McCurdy’s combo and the orchestra will be on stage playing a hybrid jazz/symphonic score. And Ice-T will be reading the poem before a live audience, for the first time.
I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m not going to miss it. I’d go even if I hadn’t played a very small role in the preparation.
The ISO hired me to write and produce a web commercial for the performance and it’s been a lot of fun. I cut tracks with Ice-T, and got to work with some of the best post-production pros in the city.
In a 1961 review from the New York Times (link below), Ask Your Mama was described as a “fury of indignation and wild comedy.” I say we need more of both.
http://www.nytimes.com/books/01/04/22/specials/hughes-mama.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Thanks for reading. Thanks for watching. Hope you can make it to the show.
Gp
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