INTERVIEW:It was his dad, Clint, who first introduced Kyle Eastwood to the mysteries of jazz. It's something for which he will always be grateful to his famous father - that and getting to write the scores for some very big movies, writes Jeananne O'Leary
MUSICIAN KYLE EASTWOOD can pinpoint the precise moment he got hooked on jazz. "I was at the Monterey Jazz Festival, just a kid, and I was standing at the side of the stage watching Count Basie playing," he recalls. "I was so close I was practically in the band. I can remember it really clearly, how exciting it was and how good the music sounded. That's when I got really into it."
The 39-year-old bass player grew up steeped in show business, as the son of Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood and his then-wife, swimsuit model Maggie Johnson. Having a famous father evidently had its perks: "My father is a huge music fan, so he'd take me to the festival at Monterey every year from the age of six or seven and we'd go backstage. I got to meet some of the greats, people like Dizzy Gillespie," he says.
A few decades on and Eastwood is a successful musician, releasing well-received albums and lugging his bass around the world to perform his blend of jazz, swing and funk music. This month he travels to Ireland with his band to perform at the City of Derry Jazz and Big Band Festival, joining a diverse line-up that includes the Blind Boys of Alabama, Chicago DJ Felix Da Housecat and Irish singer Honor Heffernan.
"I'm really looking forward to coming over; festivals are a great way to celebrate jazz," says Eastwood. "You get all the appreciators and aficionados and you get to meet some brilliant players. I really enjoy listening to what everyone else is doing, playing off each other and making it different. I get lost in the music sometimes."
In recent years Eastwood has contributed music to several of his father's films, including the Oscar-winning Million Dollar Baby and Letters from Iwo Jima. It seems like a natural career choice for someone who spent his childhood hanging around on film sets: "I grew up watching my dad work. We'd spend weekends and vacations on location with him, so the movie set was like a playground for me. I got to know the crew and they were kind of like my family - the prop guy, the wardrobe guy, the script guy. I have a lot of fond memories of that time; I was very lucky."
For the last few months Eastwood has been working on the soundtrack to his father's latest project, Changeling, a corruption mystery starring Angelina Jolie. Eastwood Senior has written the theme, while Kyle is producing the score and orchestrations.
"We get along well," he says. "My father had wanted to be a musician before he got into acting - if you'd asked him in his early twenties, he'd say he wanted to be a pianist. So he has an idea of what works, and he's boss in that respect. But you get some scope with him to try new things, too."
Eastwood's admiration of his father is clear; his conversation is peppered with references to him. "I don't mind people asking about my father. I can see why it happens; I guess he is a pretty well-known guy," he says, with characteristic understatement.
Do charges of nepotism faze him? "People say things like that occasionally, but I try not to think about it. The music has to stand on its own. People have to judge it on its own merits."
The father-of-one divides his time between Los Angeles, where he works on the film scores, and Paris, where he concentrates on his jazz music.
"I think in Europe there's more appreciation of jazz. LA's a great place but it's not exactly as moody or vibey or soulful, or as pretty as Paris. The people are more open to different types of music in France, and radio's not so compartmentalised - radio stations won't just play just one genre."
France's buying public certainly seems to be responsive to Eastwood's sound, with his 2005 album Paris Blue reaching the top spot in the French jazz charts. The record features his daughter Graylen, now 14, playing piano on the title track.
"She loves music, she's grown up listening to all sorts of stuff and she has quite an eclectic taste. If she said she'd like to become a professional musician when she's older I'd be happy. It's not the easiest job and you have to move around a lot to make it work, but I'd support her."
With his own career reliant upon transatlantic travel, Eastwood spends much of his time in airports. "Travelling with a bass isn't like travelling with a flute. It's big and heavy, and your muscles get a pretty good workout. I've heard about the problems at Heathrow, I'm not sure if I'll be going through the new terminal on my way from LA to Derry. Hopefully by then they'll have it sorted, I'll just have to check it in and hope for the best. I'm not planning on booking an extra seat for it," he laughs.
Eastwood is currently working on material for a new album, which he says will have elements of jazz combined with funk and r'n'b. Such a musical melting pot may have some jazz purists reaching for the Stop button, but the laidback Eastwood assures that he can cope with criticism.
"I'm of the opinion that that's the way jazz was come up with, by mixing different types of music. I have a whole spectrum of styles in my iPod, from Björk to Miles Davis to Led Zeppelin. It's important for jazz music to grow and take on new forms. Jazz shouldn't be a museum piece. Sharing it with new audiences and trying fresh things keeps it alive."