CAMBRIDGE - A shared appreciation for the music, dance and traditions of John Coltrane, Rahsaan Roland Kirk and trailblazing figures of swing, blues, jazz, reggae, rap and other forms of “Great Black Music” led to “Crossing John at the Crossroads,” to be presented this weekend at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center as part of their Arts and Dialogues on Race Series.

A multidisciplinary work created by Northeastern University Associate Professor of African-American Studies and Music Bill Lowe, and University of Massachusetts Associate Theatre Professor Gilbert McCauley, it intermingles text, music, dance and video. From the 1917 inception of the genre, through its historical evolution toward ultimate acceptance in the 1960’s, jazz is celebrated, from the viewpoint of a reflective narrator who takes the audience along on a personal journey.

McCauley’s dialogue draws from a range of sources which include Shakespeare, “The Wizard of Oz,” and the classic medieval mystery play. In its purposeful alignment with the play’s soundtrack, jazz, ragtime, reggae and rap compositions created by Lowe and performed by professional musicians, the production is profoundly conceptualized.

“Though they may be referred to separately, all elements work together to take us where no single element could on its own,” said CMAC publicist Marty Allen. “In developing this blend of text, music and dance, in essence a ‘ritual’, the play itself is not sacred,” he added. “Drawing heavily on elements of the current state of the African Diaspora, it utilizes the journey of one individual and his muse to tell the story.”

McCauley, who received a bachelor’s degree in theater from Oklahoma City University and a master’s of fine arts degree in directing from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, is a playwright and director who also was an acting company member of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. A past program coordinator of Kaiser Permanente's Educational Theatre Programs, he served on the theater faculties at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Michigan, the University of Rhode Island, the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, California State University and Rhode Island College.

Prior to his current professorship, McCauley was the visiting director at the National Theatre of Ghana, where he directed the West African premiere of August Wilson's "Joe Turner's Come and Gone," the producing artistic director of the Oakland Ensemble Theatre in Oakland, California and the resident director at Brown University’s experimental theatre "Rites and Reason."

The Arena Stage Theater at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego have staged his productions, as have the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Portland, Oregon, and Playwrights Horizons in New York City. McCauley’s world premieres have included "Sybil," by Ossie Davis, "Borderline Fool," by J.E. Franklin, "Goodnight Irene," by Ari Roth, and "Jar the Floor," and "Puddin' 'n Pete," both by Cheryl West.

Performer, composer and educator Lowe has worked with Muhal Richard Abrams, Henry Threadgill, Frank Foster, Trudy Silver, the CMIF Orchestra, the Andy Jaffe Sextet, and with JUBA on their debut album, as well as James Jabbo Ware and the Me, We and Them Orchestra. He has toured and performed with Sam Rivers, Dizzy Gillespie, Eartha Kitt, Clark Terry, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Slide Hampton, Bill Barron, Collective Black Artists, Onzie Matthews, George Russell, Bill Dixon, Jaki Byard, the John Coltrane Memorial Ensemble, Archie Shepp, Grover Mitchell, Mercer Ellington, and with Broadway and symphonic orchestras as well.

Prior to Northeastern, Lowe taught at Wesleyan and Yale Universities and the City University in New York. His opera, “Reb's Last Funeral: Resolution of Invisible Whips,” was supported by the Connecticut Commission for the Arts and Northeastern University. His "Living Lives, Telling Times: A ‘Trane Trip’ received a 1996 grant from Meet The Composer and the World Music Institute.

“Crossing John at the Crossroads” will be presented at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., this Friday and Saturday, April 4 and 5, at 8 p.m., and on Sunday, April 6, at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15, and $13 for CMAC members, students, and seniors. For more information, please call 617-577-1400 x10, or visit www.cmacusa.org. CMAC is wheelchair accessible.