Kyle Eastwood – bass
Jim Rotondi – trumpet
Andrew McCormack – piano
Graeme Blevins – saxophone
Martin Kaine - drums
Recorded live at Forum Leverkusen, November 2011
1. Tonic
2. Cosmo
3. Marakesh
4. Letters From Iwo Jima
5. Café Calypso
Kyle Eastwood’s record, Metropolitain, was released in June 2009 in the US. It was recorded in Paris and includes collaborations with some of the artists he admires most on the current scene: drummer Manu Katche, trumpeter Till Bronner, French star vocalist Camille and pianist Eric Legnini.
Co-produced by Erin Davis (son of Miles) and Kyle’s long term writing partner Michael Stevens, the album captured the attention of the jazz world with its forward thinking style and the gathering of some of the cream of today’s jazz musicians.
When he is not on tour, Kyle spends much of his time between Paris and Los Angeles and is very much at home in France, so it was natural to look there for an ideal place where he and his musicians could relax for a few days and allow their creative juices to flow. Such a place turned out to be the fabulous 15th Century Couronneau in Ligueux, deep in classic Bordeaux country, and Songs From The Chateau was born. To capture the authentic sound of the all star band Kyle has on display, producer Crofton Orr and the engineering of Simone Griva were enlisted. Also on board was long time collaborator Michael Stevens (co-writer with Kyle on the scores for films including Changeling and Gran Torino).
The record itself contains more than a casual nod towards France, Kyle’s second country. The opener Marciac, scene of the famous jazz festival where Kyle played in 2010, gets the programme underway in impressive fashion as drummer Martyn Kaine ushers in authoritative and fluent solo contributions from the two Graemes (Flowers and Blevins, on trumpet and saxophone, respectively), whilst the admirably atmospheric Moon Over Couronneau shows off the impressive talents of pianist Andrew McCormack. This is in turn underpinned by Kyle himself, who then comes to the fore on Aperitif – a sharpener that goes down very smoothly, in the best sense of the word.
Around Kyle, the band is tight through the album, and inventive highlights abound. The vivacious and aptly named Café Calypso sees Blevins getting deeply into the Caribbean grooves with his jaunty and spirited saxophone. The reflective tone of Soul Captain has some tasty McCormack piano complemented by Blevins’ soprano. Andalucía is descriptive, enhanced by Kyle’s virtuostic solo and hypnotic bass figure, permeated by the haunting trumpet of Graeme Flowers.
Flowers’ flugelhorn and Kyle’s stylish bass lead again on Over The Line while the album finishes with a fond reminiscence of you-know-who, Down At Ronnie’s. The band confidently struts its stuff with a highly charged dialogue between the horns, bringing to a close what may well be the best of Eastwood’s albums to date.
Co-produced by Erin Davis (son of Miles) and Kyle’s long term writing partner Michael Stevens, the album captured the attention of the jazz world with its forward thinking style and the gathering of some of the cream of today’s jazz musicians.
When he is not on tour, Kyle spends much of his time between Paris and Los Angeles and is very much at home in France, so it was natural to look there for an ideal place where he and his musicians could relax for a few days and allow their creative juices to flow. Such a place turned out to be the fabulous 15th Century Couronneau in Ligueux, deep in classic Bordeaux country, and Songs From The Chateau was born. To capture the authentic sound of the all star band Kyle has on display, producer Crofton Orr and the engineering of Simone Griva were enlisted. Also on board was long time collaborator Michael Stevens (co-writer with Kyle on the scores for films including Changeling and Gran Torino).
The record itself contains more than a casual nod towards France, Kyle’s second country. The opener Marciac, scene of the famous jazz festival where Kyle played in 2010, gets the programme underway in impressive fashion as drummer Martyn Kaine ushers in authoritative and fluent solo contributions from the two Graemes (Flowers and Blevins, on trumpet and saxophone, respectively), whilst the admirably atmospheric Moon Over Couronneau shows off the impressive talents of pianist Andrew McCormack. This is in turn underpinned by Kyle himself, who then comes to the fore on Aperitif – a sharpener that goes down very smoothly, in the best sense of the word.
Around Kyle, the band is tight through the album, and inventive highlights abound. The vivacious and aptly named Café Calypso sees Blevins getting deeply into the Caribbean grooves with his jaunty and spirited saxophone. The reflective tone of Soul Captain has some tasty McCormack piano complemented by Blevins’ soprano. Andalucía is descriptive, enhanced by Kyle’s virtuostic solo and hypnotic bass figure, permeated by the haunting trumpet of Graeme Flowers.
Flowers’ flugelhorn and Kyle’s stylish bass lead again on Over The Line while the album finishes with a fond reminiscence of you-know-who, Down At Ronnie’s. The band confidently struts its stuff with a highly charged dialogue between the horns, bringing to a close what may well be the best of Eastwood’s albums to date.
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5 comments:
http://www.mediafire.com/?2i1rd6dh1yioaas
Thank you!
Yeh, cool. Many thanks. :)
Graeme Blevins sounds wonderful here - two thumbs up for Bogard!!!
I'd heard he was good, but I didn't know he was THAT good. Thanks so much for the opportunity!
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