Stay On It: Music by Julius Eastman

“What I am trying to achieve is to be what I am to the fullest. Black to the fullest, a musician to the fullest, a homosexual to the fullest.” (Julius Eastman)

There’s a Julius Eastman renaissance happening and you’re invited.

Writing music in New York City’s burgeoning downtown scene in the 1970s and ‘80s, Julius Eastman was a young, black, gay man who criss-crossed musical worlds and provocatively “swerved from critical acclaim to gate-crashing controversy.” (NPR)

Eastman’s music mixes the evergreen politics of his time with bold grooves and enthralling melodies that sound equally fresh. Think Minimalism (like the music of Philip Glass and Steve Reich) combined with joyful improvisation and moments of surprising stillness.

Don’t miss it when the Music on Main All-Star Band and the Vancouver Youth Choir breathe life into “music that commands attention: wild, grand, delirious, demonic.” (The New Yorker)