Kyle Eastwood Band in Concert

Son of Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood, Kyle Eastwood has become an artist in his own right. The son of two music-loving parents, Kyle Eastwood is a celebrated jazz musician.

Having produced four critically-acclaimed albums, toured worldwide to sell out crowds and composed several movie soundtracks, this virtuoso bassist and composer's music resonates with swing, groove and funk overtones.

Sharp, elegant and with a take on the jazz genre that had this Irish audience moving and grooving, Kyle Eastwood's rapturously received set at The Button Factory in Dublin proved there's more to his family name than just masterful filmmaking.

Shirking off the weight of expectation his ancestry brings, Eastwood and his red-hot band lit up the third day of the inaugural John Ford Ireland Symposium with a stomping set that pleased the filmmaking fraternity gathered as much as it did the audience of jazz fans and musicians. If this was to be your first impression of Kyle Eastwood the musician, then the 44-year-old was determined to make an impact.

Dipping into a back catalogue of five studio albums, Eastwood was quick to recognise the occasion. Having earlier introduced a 20th anniversary screening of 'Unforgiven' as part of the four-day symposium (his father was the first recipient of John Ford Ireland award), Eastwood treated the packed audience to the main title sequence theme to the acclaimed Western, much to their delight.

The very best of contemporary Jazz followed with nods to funk and African rhythms as Eastwood swung and swayed from his double-bass over the course of the hour-long set. It was a set that passed far quicker then anyone would have wanted as shown by the wails and cheers of "more, more, more" as Eastwood exited stage right. He's an accommodating man however – much in evidence in his generous nature during an earlier panel discussion on composing music for the screen – and so Eastwood returned to wow the crowd once more with the sombre closing theme from 'Letters From Iwo Jima,' gently  lowering the crowd from the highs experienced over the previous 60 minutes. A triumph.

What the audience said:

"We thoroughly enjoyed the evening with these exceptional musicians."

"What a great night it was! The music was great and the band as a group and as individual musicians were simply fantastic"

"Kyle, you made my day!"

"With original timeless tunes capturing moments of soulful culture mixed with jazzy beats with a high level of creative interaction."

Links

Kyle Eastwood Interview on The John Murray Show:

Independant.ie: Kyle Eastwood Interview