Kyle Eastwood
It has been 15 years since bassist Kyle Eastwood burst onto the jazz scene with his 1998 debut, From There To Here. At that moment in his budding career, the press seemed more preoccupied with his paternal lineage (he’s the son of famed actor-director Clint Eastwood) than his music. Over the course of the four subsequent releases – 2004′s Paris Blue, 2005′s Now, 2009′s Metropolitan and 2011′s Songs from the Chateau – Eastwood built up an impressive body of work while earning respect in musician circles. With his sixth release as a leader, The View From Here on the JazzVillage label, he demonstrates a strong command of both electric and upright basses while expanding into more adventurous territory that is informed as much by jazz as it is by world music. “I’ve always loved music from other countries,” says the Carmel, California native who has resided in Paris for the past eight years. “Living in France, you hear a lot of North African and Middle Eastern music, and you can hear some of those influences on this new recording.”

Accompanied by a London-based crew of stellar young musicians worthy of wide recognition — pianist Andrew McCormack, tenor saxophonist Graeme Blevins, trumpeter Quentin Collins and drummer Martyn Kaine — Eastwood and company blend infectious grooves and outstanding improvisations throughout eleven diverse tracks on The View From Here. “They’re all really talented players,” says Eastwood, “and we’ve been playing together for a while now, developing a real band chemistry. We ended up writing a lot of these new tunes together either at rehearsals or out on the road during last year’s tour around Europe. Sometimes I would come up with a couple of ideas or Andrew might bring something in, then everybody would just add on to it after that.”