And as eldest son Kyle does look like and young Clint, if he’s in the studio environment you can’t help but think Play Misty For Me at one extreme (not recommended) and the Martin Scorsese / Clint Eastwood The Blues documentaries at the other (very recommended).

This is Kyle’s third release on the Candid label who have a rich heritage in releasing jazz by major artists such as Don Ellis, Charles Mingus, Max Roach, Cecil Taylor, Eric Dolphy, Gary Bartz, Stacey Kent and even Jamie Cullum (not forgetting the Cake ‘off-shoot’ label with FLY favourites Get The Blessing and Neil Cowley).

So Kyle (on electric and acoustic bass) is clearly a fan of the Weather Report era of jazz fusion and whilst this is more of a modern soft under-belly of the genre, it features some great musicians and performances with the title track as a great start with a Eric Legnini on piano, a skatting Camille (yep, that one as the album was recorded in France) and Till Brönner blowing large on trumpet.

‘Bold Changes’ is very laid back but the Hammond Organ of Legnini and Brönner give it so much soul that it keeps it well away from the dinner jazz set. Brönner has been recording for over ten years now and he’s one ot Nicola Conte’s non-Italian goto guys (on Other Directions and Rituals) and he’s on form here.

Getting back to Weather Report, ‘Hot Box’ is as a trio with Andrew McCormack on electric piano and Manu Katché on drums. Eastwood is at his most Jaco on this one and then on ‘Black Light’ they go a bit fusion/ECM Records with Brönner and Graeme Blevins (who was on Max Cole’s album Star Charts only 3 years ago) leading the way. ‘Bel Air’ is back to a trio, this time with Eastwood on acoustic bass doin’ a bit of a Ron Carter.

As you can imagine, ‘Samba De Paris’ is more left bank than Rio and it’s a shame the the track that is most jammin’ jazz-funk dancer (‘Le Balai’) gets faded out.

Funnily enough, whilst mentioning jazz-funk, I had a bit of a Chris Bangs ‘revisit’ this week and whilst this is too jazzy for him there’s tracks that could have been slipped into a Bangs Bournemouth Bank Holiday special in years gone by; if not ‘Le Balai’ the funk vocals that finishes off the CD with vocals and written by Nigerian born Toyin that’s a bit acid jazz with Legnini moving onto Clavinet for authenticity (again, it’s a shame this one fades out just as Graeme Flowers heats up his horn).

So a new album that’s full of references to jazz memories but not that stuck in the past that makes it a cliché. Eastwood Jnr’s reputation on the jazz scene has been growing for years but this is a coming to fruition release and with some European festival dates and a couple of nights at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club lined up, this is a Kyle’s break thorough time.

Links:
www.kyleeastwood.com
www.myspace.com/kyleeastwood
www.till-broenner.de
www.myspace.com/broennertill
www.myspace.com/graemeblevins
www.manu-katche.com
www.myspace.com/manukatche
www.candidrecords.com
www.clinteastwood.net
Play Misty for Me (1971) Directed by Clint Eastwood with Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills. … www.imdb.com/title/tt0067588/
SOUL IN ONE - 100% VINYL SOUL / JAZZ ALL DAYER - SUNBURY GOLF CENTRE Saturday, 18th July 3-1am www.soul-in-one.net “Run by DJ / Producer Chris Bangs who has returned to the scene after a long sojurn producing both for himself and others”.