- Kyle Eastwood
Kyle Eastwood (born
May 19 ,1968 ) is an Americanjazz musician. He studied film at theUniversity of Southern California for two years before embarking on a music career. After becoming a session player in the early '90s and leading his own quartet, he released his first soloCD , "From There to Here", in 1998. His most recentCD , "Now", was released in 2006 by Rendezvous. Eastwood plays the upright, acoustic, anddouble bass , as well asbass guitar .Musical background
Eastwood comes from a musical family, as explained in an
October 27 ,2006 , from "The Independent ": "When I told my father I wanted to be a musician he was happy about it. Music has always been important to my family. My parents gave me my taste in music and my love of jazz from an early age. My father plays piano, my mother used to play, and my mother's mother was a music teacher at Northwestern University in Illinois." [http://rendezvousmusic.com/v2/artistHome.php?ID=26&page=news&news=39/ Kyle Interview in "The Independent"] (October 27 ,2006 )]It comes as little surprise, then, that music was a prominent fixture in the Eastwood home. According to his biography with Hopper Management, [http://www.hopper-management.com/doc/kea-bio-e.pdf/] Eastwood grew up listening to
jazz records by legends such asMiles Davis ,Dave Brubeck ,Thelonious Monk , and the Stan Kenton Big Band with his parents, bothjazz lovers. Eastwood attended theMonterey Jazz Festival numerous times with his parents, as well. "One advantage of having a famous father was I got to go backstage", Eastwood explained in an interview [ [http://www.columbiajazz.com/newsletter2/qna.html Q&A with Kyle Eastwood ] ] conducted by stepmotherDina Ruiz Eastwood . "I met a lot of artists, greats likeDizzy Gillespie andSarah Vaughan . Looking back on that, I can see how much the musicians I met there influenced my career."Eastwood began tinkering with the electric bass guitar in high school, learning
R&B ,Motown , andreggae tunes by ear. At the age of 18, Eastwood began jamming with friends for fun, ultimately deciding that music was what he wanted to do. After studying with French bassistBunny Brunel , he began playing gigs around theNew York andLos Angeles areas, eventually forming the Kyle Eastwood Quartet, who contributed to 1996's Eastwood After Hours: Live at Carnegie Hall, [ [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002NEK/ Eastwood After Hours: Live at Carnegie Hall] ] a concert salutingClint Eastwood and his love of jazz. His father has always been supportive of, and interested in, his work, as Eastwood toldThe Independent : "As far as my father is concerned, as long as I was serious about my music career, he was supportive of me."Two years later, in 1998, Sony released his first CD, "From There to Here", a collection of both
jazz standards and original compositions. After signing with the UK's Candid Records in 2004, Eastwood moved toDave Koz 's label, [http://www.rendezvousmusic.com/ Rendezvous] , which has released his last two albums: 2005's "Paris Blue", and 2006's "Now".In addition to his solo albums, Eastwood has also contributed music to five of his father's films: "The Rookie" (1990), "Mystic River" (2002), "
Million Dollar Baby " (2004), "Flags of Our Fathers" (2006), and "Letters from Iwo Jima " (2006).While Eastwood has never denied that having a famous father has helped his career to a degree, he has said that he hopes that his accomplishments as a musician, composer, and arranger will stand on their own. "Being the son of someone that famous has its advantages and drawbacks", he told] "The Independent". "I guess I try not to think about it really. First and foremost I think of him as my father, not the moviestar stuff. He's just my dad. I just do what I do and hope people judge my music on its own merits."
Other work
Eastwood provided the voice of "Daddy" in the 8th
PBS ident , "Daddy and Son." (2007) and the voice of DJ Andy Wright for the PC game "The Movies " (2005).He was nominated with partner Michael Stevens for a 2006
Chicago Film Critics Association award for Original Score ("Letters from Iwo Jima ")."Song for Ruth" on 2006's "Now" is dedicated to his grandmother, Ruth Eastwood.
His father,
Clint Eastwood , makes a cameo on his 2005 release "Paris Blue", whistling on the track "Big Noise (from Winnetka)."According to [http://www.notstarring.com/actors/eastwood-kyle/ NotStarring.com] , he reportedly auditioned for the role of Daniel LaRusso in "
The Karate Kid " (1984) which ultimately went toRalph Macchio .Family life
Eastwood is the son of actor-director
Clint Eastwood and model Maggie Johnson. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/78/Clint-Eastwood.html Clint Eastwood Biography (1930-) ] ] He was born inLos Angeles ,California , and grew up inCarmel ,California . He is the older brother of actress, model and fashion designerAlison Eastwood . He has one daughter, Graylen (b. 1994), with ex-wife Laura Gomez.Discography
Filmography - composer/performer/arranger
*
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) - composer, score with Michael Stevens
* Flags of Our Fathers (2006) - arranger
*Million Dollar Baby (2004) - composer, "Boxing Baby", "Solferino", "Blue Diner"
* Mystic River (2002) - composer, "Cosmo", "Black Emerald Blues"
*Regarding Henry (1991) - uncredited performer
* The Rookie (1990) - composer "Red Zone" withMichael Stevens Filmography - Actor
* The Bridges of Madison County (1995) - James Rivers Band
*Honkytonk Man (1982) - Whit Stovall
*Bronco Billy (1980) - orphan (uncredited)
*The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) - Josey's son (uncredited)References
External links
* [http://www.kyleeastwood.com/ KyleEastwood.com]
* [http://www.myspace.com/kyleeastwood Kyle Eastwood on MySpace]
* [http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kyle+eastwood&search=Search/ Kyle Eastwood videos at YouTube]
*
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:5gqag4httv8z/ Kyle Eastwood at the All Music Guide]
* [http://rendezvousmusic.com/v2/artistHome.php?ID=26&page=news&news=39 "How Do I Look?" interview with Ben Walsh for "The Independent"]
* [http://www.iht.com/articles/1999/02/17/kyle.t.php/ "Kyle Eastwood: Going His Way" article by Mike Zwerin for the "International Herald Tribune"]
* [http://www.hopper-management.com/doc/kea-bio-e.pdf/ Hopper Management Biography]
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