Julius Eastman Evil Nigger Versions Quatuor à Cordes Et 2 Accordéons Frackiewicz Luc

“Minimalism has been dominated by straight white men — Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass — and Eastman, a gay black man is a vital addition to their company, even if his take on the style was idiosyncratic and perhaps ahead of its time” wrote the New York Times in 2016. Another leftist fad indulged in by New York snobs? Don’t think so. Since that was written, Julius Eastman’s musical output, all-but forgotten for a quarter century, has been the focus at the London Contemporary Music Festival, MaerzMusik in Berlin and Krakow’s Sacrum Profanum festival, and has been all over the press. Now, new versions of Eastman’s most famous work (with the revealing title Evil Nigger) have now made their way onto the vinyl album. Its cascade of sounds, usually produced by four grand pianos, has been rendered this time by the renowned Arditti String Quartet (arranged by Tomasz Opalka) and by two Polish accordion masters, Rafal Luc and Maciej Frackiewicz (arranged by Piotr Peszat). Today, Eastman’s timely music resounds as powerfully as the scary/funny titles of his most acclaimed compositions (including the provocative, now lost Nigger Faggot). This is music for our day, as the nation’s Archbishop Jedraszewski warns of a “rainbow plague” and Poland’s Most Important Person speaks of imminent “Sharia law areas”. We’re under no illusion that music can have any sobering effect—we just hope it can give us strength and courage.