Jazz bassist Kyle Eastwood has a famous dad named Clint, but he’s made a name for himself, not only for helping score his father’s films — such as “Letters to Iwo Jima” and “Gran Torino” — but also as a jazz composer.
Eastwood’s latest album, “Time Pieces,” features covers of jazz staples like Herbie Hancock’s “Dolphin Dance,” and original works as well. The artist and his band are currently touring the U.S. and Europe.
Eastwood lives in Paris these days, but when he came into the studio recently, he told The Frame’s John Horn that some of his earliest gigs were right here in Southern California.
Interview Highlights
When did you decide you wanted to be a professional musician?
I was living here in L.A., had just done a bit of schooling at USC and I started doing some gigs around with different musicians here ... playing at clubs. That’s what gave me my initial taste of maybe wanting to be a professional musician.
Is there a bass player that you idolized growing up that made you think, If I could only be that good.
Charles Mingus was definitely a big one, also especially as a composer and a band leader. Beautiful composer — it almost even overshadows his bass playing. Paul Chambers was one I did a lot of listening to when I was studying and teaching myself in my bedroom.
You taught yourself to play the bass?
For a while, yeah. And then I studied with a few different teachers. A French bassist named Bunny Brunel I studied with for a while. And he taught me a lot of stuff about classical bass as well as jazz bass. So yeah, I had a few important teachers.
Do you leave room within your composition for improvisation or have you written pretty much everything down?
No, there’s a lot of room for improvisation. The sort of general chord changes and the melodies [are] written out. And the rest is open.
I want to talk about your film scoring work. You’ve worked with your dad [Clint Eastwood] on “Mystic River,” “Letters From Iwo Jima” and some others.
I enjoy working with my dad. I’ve kind of grown up watching him work. So I know how he likes to work and how he approaches things. So, he’s a good boss, he’s fun to work for. We get along well and we have similar tastes in music and film. So yeah, we have a good working relationship.
Why did you want to revisit “Letters From Iwo Jima” on “Time Pieces”?
Well, it’s something I play in the set with the band quite often. So it’s something I’ve been wanting to record. I hadn’t recorded it in that setting. For the film it was done with an orchestra and trumpets and a whole different arrangement, but [the album version] was just something for piano and bass.
Let’s talk about the difference in process. How is film scoring different from jazz composition?
It’s a very different process than doing your own albums -- and especially jazz. It’s a lot more of sitting behind the computer and editing and working to a picture, obviously, so it’s a little more restrictive. Whereas jazz is all about freedom to play how you want and, as you said, improvise. There’s much less of that in film music.
You live in Paris now. I’m curious how that affects you as an artist and why that’s the preferred place for you to live now.
I think there’s a lot of appreciation for jazz and a lot of different kinds of music in France and around Europe especially. And there’s a lot of great musicians from all over the world there, and particularly a lot of influence from North Africa and West Africa as well. It’s always been inspiring for me to travel a lot and hear musicians from other cultures.
Your father is obviously a great artist. Your mom is an artist as well. And your grandmother was a voice teacher. What have you learned about genetics and artistry?
I don’t know ... It helps to be exposed to it from a young age and being around it a lot. My parents were very supportive of me wanting to play an instrument. And they’re obviously very appreciative of the arts ... Obviously, a little bit of talent and a lot of practice helps.