Julius Eastman 
Femenine

★★½

Julius Eastman's recent resurgence into the avant classical scene due to some physical issues of his pieces, is a pretty interesting and important event. From what I know Eastman stood out as an openly gay and black man. And after hearing Unjust Malaise it was easy to tell that while he was inspired by other minimalists, he had a style all his own. Not to mention the very upfront and confrontational titles of his pieces.

Like the rest of his issued material, this is a live performance and not a very well recorded one either. The motif at the beginning is repeated throughout, with Eastman bringing his jazz background onto the piano and the rest of the players joining throughout. I do appreciate the improvised sections that are sometimes produced throughout the piece, as this is something you don't really see in the music of other minimalists of the time. It produces a layer of warmth. 

My major issue with this lies in not only the length of this piece but the general motif itself gets quite annoying and monotonous. If this was half the length I would most likely appreciate it more, or if even more improvisation was pumped through it. But listening to this sub-par live recording was quite the challenge. 

Of course it is always the case that someone is discovered decades after their horrible fall from grace and death. While I don't really respect the fact that this is so common, I appreciate the art that is put out because of it, I just really wish they had something better.

Favorite Song: Femenine 

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