"Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz"

Last night’s performance of “Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz” was an amazing experience. The thunderous applause and deafening cheers from the packed house at the Hilbert Circle Theatre leads me to believe that I wasn’t the only one who thought so!

The performance incorporated spoken word, jazz, and symphony seamlessly. The centerpiece of this work was the poem “Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz” by Langston Hughes. The poem is equal parts celebration, lamentation, and castigation, each mood focusing on different aspects of African American history and experiences leading up to the 1960s. It’s also a very personal reflection by Hughes examining the questions, misunderstandings, stereotypes and down right ignorance he faced as a successful black artist. His retort to the uninformed questions such as “will your blackness rub off?”, “can you recommend a maid?”, or “did you vote for Nixon?” – a variation of “ask your mama!”

The performers were both perfect for their roles and also perfectly complimented one another. For me, Ice T was an ideal choice to give voice to Langston Hughes words. His reading was evocative, emotive, and well harmonized with the music. His delivery was both in tune with what Hughes wanted to convey through the poem as well as the mood evoked by the music. His voice became another instrument standing on its own but also contributing to the whole. It was a song without notes, and magical music.

The McCurdy jazz trio, and especially their leader Ron McCurdy was totally captivating. From the moment the piece began with McCurdy walking from the back of the theater to the stage while playing his trumpet in a style reminiscent of a jazz funeral, he totally captivated the audience. Each member of the trio was a virtuoso in his own right and when playing together they became greater than the sum of their parts. Each member of the quartet was given opportunities for solo performances to showcase their talents and enthrall the audience. Beyond his musical abilities, McCurdy had amazing stage presence and showmanship, encouraging the audience participation through clapping or snapping their fingers in time to the music at various points in the show.

Last by not least was the performance by the Indianapolis Symphony. They were truly an integral part of the performance for me. I’ll admit that going in I had a bit of trepidation that adding the symphony might lend a “Muzak” quality to the jazz. My fears were in vain though. In backing up the jazz quartet, the symphony enhanced the musical pieces adding depth and richness to the performance. I truly admire the willingness on the part of the ISO to branch out into something dramatically different from their usual repertoire.

This was a “multimedia” performance and the musical performance was supplemented by a montage of videos and still pictures to further develop the themes in each musical piece. For me this was the cherry on top. It definitely added depth to the performance but like a cherry on a sundae, I wouldn’t have missed it had it not been there.

At the end we were all on our feet clapping and cheering. Like all great performances, it seemed to be over much too quickly. In wrapping up the evening, Ron McCurdy commented on the diverse audience. It was an observation I’d made myself as well. I’ve attended symphony performances in the past and trust me, this wasn’t your typical symphony crowd. It was heartening to see this kind of event in Indy! He also commented on his surprise at Ice T being chosen as the guest performer. His comment “I thought this was a red state”, sums up the impression of many from outside our state borders. Given that, I find it quite amazing that Indianapolis was chosen for the world premier of this work. I’d love to know how this came about since Langston Hughes didn’t have any ties to Indiana.

I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity to attend “Ask Your Mama”. Kudos to Smaller Indiana for promoting this type of event and also encouraging those who attended to share the experience through our blogs. I’m hopeful, that through raising awareness, we’ll see more events of this type in Indy in the future.