Clint's son makes jazz fans' day

KYLE EASTWOOD, the 30-year-old son of screen tough guy Clint, launches a career as a jazz band leader in London next month.

Last year he released a debut album From There To Here, which was greeted with praise warm enough to confound even the most cynical critic of celebrity children. His new quintet will perform publicly for the first time at Soho's Pizza Express to start a European tour.

Eastwood says it was his father's love of music which persuaded him to become a jazz performer rather than an actor.

"I started college as a film major, but started getting more serious about my music," he said. He took a year out and learned to play bass.

Having a famous father can help. Kyle said: "The name has its advantages and its drawbacks. I just learned to accept the good parts of it."

He grew up with music as his father, a one-time jazz pianist, would often turn the house into an impromptu jazz session.

"It definitely gave me my first taste of the music. My earliest memories of music are jazz," he said. "I went through phases but always came back to jazz. It was pretty much my first love."

So is he forging the career his father would have loved? "He definitely entertained the idea of being a musician, but he fell into the movie career. I think he would like to have more time to play. He's got a good ear."

Kyle lives in New York with his wife, Lora Gomez, an actress, and daughter, Graylen, four. "New York offers more opportunities for me to play," he said. "The only way to develop is to keep doing it and, besides my family, that's all I care about."

The critics have been generous. "Eastwood Jr displays innate taste in tune selection as well as formidable talent on upright bass," reported Straight No Chaser magazine.

Kyle said: "Jazz is definitely a music you get into for the love of it. It's not usually the kind of profession you go into to become rich and famous."