PostED ON 20.10.2022

On Wednesday evening in the majestic setting of the Auditorium of Lyon, jazzman Kyle Eastwood paid tribute to his father by performing eleven famous melodies from his movies joined by his quintet and the National Orchestra of Lyon. – “You'll love it!” Clint Eastwood exclaimed in a video message shown on the theatre's giant screen before conductor Stephen Bell gave the signal to kick off the wonderful concert, a musical road movie, taking us through the career of the cinematic giant.

The funky bass line of the theme from ‘Magnum Force’ (1973), the second instalment of the Dirty Harry saga, opened the musical ride of classical music and jazz, while Kyle Eastwood alternated between bass and double bass. "We tried to arrange the themes in a way that kept their essence. The melody had to remain at the heart of this exploration", explained the musician in one of the snippets of conversation broadcast between each piece, where he also invites his father to evoke his memories.

© Jean-Luc Mège

In one of them, the actor recounts his meeting with saxophonist and composer Lennie Niehaus, with whom he later collaborated for ‘Unforgiven’ (1992) and ‘The Bridges of Madison County” (1995), two of the films revisited by Kyle Eastwood in front of the Auditorium audience. "I used to serve him beers in a club where I was hired when I was in the army", Clint Eastwood said with a mischievous smile.

‘Flags of Our Fathers’ (2006), ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’ (2007), ‘Changeling’ (2008) or ‘Gran Torino’ (2009); the second half of the performance was devoted to Clint Eastwood's career as a director. But during the encore, as soon as they heard the first familiar notes of ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ (1964) and ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ (1966) by Ennio Morricone, applause erupted in the Lyon venue. It was reminiscent of the thunderous ovation during the presentation of the Lumière Award to the actor-director in 2009… Clint Eastwood will forever be the first!

© Jean-Luc Mège

© Jean-Luc Mège

Benoit PAVAN