Julius Eastman (1940 - 1990) was an energizing underground figure, one whose forms are clear, whose methods were powerful and persuasive, and whose thinking was supremely musical. His works show different routes minimalism might have taken, and perhaps some of those will now be followed up.
A good overview of Eastman's story and music at The Nation.
From The Guardian: "For a long time I didn’t even know Black composers existed: it’s not just an absence, it’s erasure." Loraine James writes about discovering the work of avant garde US composer Julius Eastman and reinterpreting his work for a new century
From The Guardian: "Unjust Malaise effectively rewrote the history of post-war American New Music, restoring to its narrative a gay black voice creating a liberating, high-energy form of organic minimalism."
You can read Adam Shatz’s New York Review of Books article about him online here (subscription necessary), or download a PDF here.
"Julius Eastman's Guerrilla Minimalism" in the New Yorker, online here and PDF here.
You can read the Chicago Reader article about him online here, or download a PDF here.