Ron McCurdy of the Langston Hughes Project

UNC Asheville's Cultural & Special Events series will welcome the Langston Hughes Project to the Lipinsky Auditorium stage at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22, to present the critically acclaimed masterwork "Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz."

"Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz" brings the Harlem Renaissance to life by setting to music the 800-line, 12-part poetic suite written by Langston Hughes in 1961. The poems are read aloud to the accompaniment of 12 styles of live jazz featuring The Ron McCurdy Trio and video images of the Harlem Renaissance by African-American artists and photographers, including Jacob Lawrence, Gordon Parks and Romare Bearden.

The show will open with a 30-minute set by the YMI Community Jazz Band at 7:15 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22. Directed by Gary Bradley, the 24-piece group will perform jazz standards.

Co-sponsors for the performance include the YMI Cultural Center Inc. and UNC Asheville's Multicultural Student Programs and the Center for Teaching and Learning.

General admission tickets are $15 or $6 for all area students. To reserve tickets by phone, call UNC Asheville's Highsmith University Union Box Office at 828/232-5000. Tickets may be purchased online at www.uncatickets.com. A limited number of tickets will be available with cash or check only at two locations in downtown Asheville: YMI Cultural Center, 39 South Market St., and Malaprop's Bookstore/Café, 55 Haywood St. Patrons may call the YMI at 828/257-4530 or Malaprop's at 828/254-6734 to check availability. For information about purchasing group tickets, call 828/251-6991.

For more information on this or other events in UNC Asheville's Cultural & Special Events season, call 828/251-6991 or click on www.unca.edu/culturalarts/.