JULIUS EASTMAN レコード& CD

Review: Julius Eastman's incredible legacy continues to edge closer to the stature it deserves in the 20th Century canon, little by little, with this reissue on Frozen Reeds. The Finnish label have turned their attention to one of Eastman's defining performances and compositions, embodying his rare and embattled practice as a queer, Black composer within the predominantly white, male, straight industry. 'Femenine' unfurls languorously over 72 minutes of stirring beauty, played by an ensemble of woodwind, keys and steadily persistent shakers. Recorded in 1974 with the S.E.M. Ensemble and Eastman himself on keys led by conductor Piotr Kotik, it's a staggering, moving long-form work which shines the brightest it ever has (since its performance) thanks to a remaster from Jim O'Rourke.

Review: The world is slowly catching up to the pioneering genius of Afro-American composer Julius Eastman. His works confronted the Black experience in a provocative way, as is evident on these renditions of his 'Crazy N*****' and 'Evil N*****' compositions from 1980 and 1979 respectively. On this release via Sub Rosa, the striking, tension-loaded piano pieces were performed by Melanie Dalibert, Nicolas Horvath, Stephane Ginsburg and Wilhelm Latchoumia in 2019 at Festival Musica in Strasbourg. They come pressed onto red vinyl, presented with liner notes from Mary Jane Leach and photography by Donald Burkhardt and Jarek Frankowski.