How Julius Eastman's work challenges traditional perceptions of classical music

In the world of minimalist music, composer, singer and pianist Julius Eastman had very few peers. He wrote classical, avant garde songs similar to pieces by Terry Riley or Philip Glass, but he was also an out, gay, black man who made that clear in his music. Eastman's main focus in life was to be himself, "Black to the fullest, a musician to the fullest, a homosexual to the fullest." 

Last year, the only known recording of Eastman's 1974 work Femenine was released. Jace Clayton, who performs under the name DJ Rupture, is a fan of Eastman's music. His 2013 project, The Julius Eastman Memory Depot, is an album where Clayton pays tribute Eastman's work by reimagining it in unexpected ways.

Clayton explains that Eastman wrote long pieces for multiple pianos. The compositions were dense, "yet there's this through line of incredible beauty and delicacy and slow evolution within them," says Clayton. But, he would often title his music using provocative and explicit language. While other minimalist musicians named their pieces inspired by the clean white gallery spaces they performed in, Eastman had songs like "Gay Guerrilla" and "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich."

Eastman was a revolutionary musician, whose vision extended far beyond his time. "His legacy didn't fit with a lot of the narratives then and now about what classical music is supposed to do, who is supposed to be able to make classical music, even the type of themes this music can address," says Clayton. "Ideas of gay and lesbian activist identity are becoming much more pronounced and in a way they are less alien and less threatening to the mainstream now," and that's why Clayton believes there has been a renewed interest in Eastman's work.