Clint Eastwood's CD

Clint Eastwood

Warner Sunset/Warner Bros. 9 488060-2

Here's our mate Clint (...anyone who likes jazz is a friend of mine) Eastwood and his film music. There's the sing-in-the-shower Rawhide, the utterly weird Good, Bad and the Ugly, et al.

Things get interesting with Lennie Niehausts Theme from Pale Rider. The Eastwood original Claudia's Theme, shows us what we have always suspected of the man, a great deal of sensitivity. The Theme From Dirty Harry is sort of Shaft-like (Lalo Schifrin, no less), then there is a Gaelic touch in A Perfect World, which changes into something rather wonderful half way with a lovely soaring melody. We waited for Misty, of course. But Garner is practically rhapsodic and this standard, all-too-gorgeous tune seems somehow wasted in this version. And so it goes on. A real revelation is Eastwood's talent for melody and several of the pieces presented here are credited to the man himself. Maybe it is about time a vocalist got some lyrics together. We missed Bird and much more from The Bridges of Madison County (although the beautiful theme would have given Tristan and Isolde pause for thought). Then it is all Lennie Niehaus, with saxophone solos by Joshua Redman, on tracks 14 through 23. This is Clint Eastwood. An American Filmmaker Suite. Eastwood lighting a Lucky against a neon-lit urban backdrop, instead of sticks of dynamite from a glowing panatella. The voicing is lovely and there is a mostly brooding atmosphere, the colors are deeply somber. The suite also contains the swingingBattle Royal, and ends with I Love Jazz as if we didn't know. This is it, Eastwood revealed. We feel confirmed in our belief of what we always thought the man to be, sensibility personified. Get hip to the guy, it's worth it.

byLawrence Brazier

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