Mystery man.

Julius Eastman

* Unjust Malaise * New World

In the musical avant-garde of the 1970s, the late African-American composer and baritone Julius Eastman was openly gay, outrageous, and brilliantly gifted. But his legacy is as much about mystery and sadness as it is about unforgettable performances. Described as one of the most important composers to emerge in the wake of the minimalist movement, Eastman fell by the mid 1980s into a reclusive life of alcoholism and drug abuse. He lived in New York City's Tompkins Square Park after he was kicked out of his East Village apartment; his manuscripts and recordings were put out with the trash. The cause of his death in May 1990 at age 49 has never been confirmed.

It was long believed that all of Eastman's music was lost, but thanks to the determined detective work of composer Mary Jane Leach and a team from New World Records, this new three-CD set presents seven of his large-scale works.

Eastman's darkly powerful voice can be heard in the reverent "Prelude to the Holy Presence of Joan D'Arc." Two chamber works, "Stay on It" (1973) and "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?" (1977), mix minimalist repetitions with more sassy, sometimes belligerent explorations. Eastman's most powerful works are also his most audacious--"Gay Guerrilla," "Evil Nigget," and "Crazy Nigger." (In his introduction to a live performance of the latter, Eastman sheds light on his provocative title choices.) Written for the impractical instrumentation of four pianos, the pieces have a dense sound and hulking lengths of up to an hour. Their slow-moving forms bring to mind the massive geometric shapes of visual artists like Sol Lewitt and Donald Judd.