![\"Issue35-nathan-east\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Issue35-nathan-east.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nBy Jeff Tamarkin<\/b><\/p>\n
For more than four decades, Nathan East has contributed dynamic and innovative basslines to recordings and live performances by a vast array of artists, including Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Michael Jackson, Beyonc\u00e9 and duo Daft Punk, whose Grammy-winning platinum album Random Access Memories <\/i>features East on 10 tracks, including the smash \u201cGet Lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n
A natural, East began playing bass at 14, and in no time was playing along with recordings of jazz greats like Charles Mingus and Ray Brown. Just two years later, East landed his big break backing Barry White on the road. Throughout the 1980s East\u2019s skills fueled his reputation as an ace and first-call session player. At the end of the decade, he helped create the acclaimed contemporary jazz group Fourplay.<\/p>\n
In spite of his achievements, Nathan East had never released a solo album\u2014until now. \u201cYou want to do everything in your life, and there weren\u2019t many things left for me to do,\u201d says the Philadelphia native. \u201cI\u2019ve aspired to make a solo record for many years.\u201d For the self-titled album, East teamed with Chris Gero\u2014an executive with the Yamaha Entertainment Group\u2014as co-producer, and together they tapped an impressive roster of players and vocalists including Michael McDonald, Sara Bareilles, Ray Parker Jr., Toto\u2019s David Paich, and two Fourplay members, Bob James and Chuck Loeb.<\/p>\n
For Nathan East<\/i>, the bassist and his collaborators interpreted songs by Van Morrison (\u201cMoondance,\u201d sung by McDonald), the Beatles (\u201cYesterday,\u201d a duet with East\u2019s 13-year-old keyboardist son Noah), and Steve Winwood (\u201cCan\u2019t Find My Way Home,\u201d with Clapton on guitar). \u201cI wanted some cohesiveness so the record sounded like a band,\u201d says East, 58. \u201cBut I wanted it to be a very full musical statement. I wanted to feel like I could hand this to someone and say, \u2018This album is my musical story.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Why the long wait to do this?<\/b><\/p>\n
Because I have been playing on literally thousands of records for other people. I call Fourplay my solo album because the group is a chance for me to stretch out, write, be a member of the band. And to be honest, this album is still a community effort.<\/p>\n
When did you start the process?<\/b><\/p>\n
I had ideas for songs in my head and I\u2019d make demos, then Fourplay would go into the studio to record, and those demos would end up on the Fourplay record. Finally about a year ago, I started honing in on what I was actually going to do. Chris [Gero] and I put pencil to paper and he asked, \u201cIf you were going to do something, what would it be?\u201d<\/p>\n
How did you meet Chris?<\/b><\/p>\n
We\u2019ve known each other for at least 20 years through Yamaha\u2014I\u2019ve been a Yamaha artist for 33 years now. We\u2019ve done lots of concerts together\u2014he\u2019s a great concert producer\u2014and we thought we could translate that spirit and energy to a record. We started tracking in July 2013 with a core rhythm section that included my late, great friend Ricky Lawson on drums, Michael Thompson on guitar, Jeff Babko and Tim Carmon on keys, and Rafael Padilla on percussion. From there, people started dropping by and falling in. It became an embarrassment of riches.<\/p>\n
How was it working with Daft Punk?<\/b><\/p>\n
They\u2019re really low-key, and they have great ideas. I was enjoying that they wanted to go retro and you could just play. It\u2019s funny\u2014by not trying to be current, \u201cGet Lucky\u201d became the most current song. In the summer of 2013, you couldn\u2019t go anywhere without hearing it. We recorded it and sent it to Nile [Rodgers], who made it so much funkier that I ended up redoing the bass part to match his guitar. But nobody would have predicted it would go as high on the charts as it did, and win at the Grammys. Sometimes you say they didn\u2019t get the awards right\u2014they got that one right.<\/p>\n
What music first impacted you?<\/b><\/p>\n
It was the Charlie Brown TV specials. I\u2019d listen to Vince Guaraldi\u2019s songs and think, \u201cThat\u2019s cool\u2014I want to do that.\u201d When I was in seventh grade, I went to the music teacher and said, \u201cI want to play piano.\u201d He said, \u201cWe don\u2019t have piano but we have violin, viola, cello or bass.\u201d The upright bass was too big and the violin and viola were too small so I started on cello. That just sucked me into music. Later, when I picked up the bass, I thought, \u201cThis is cooler than the cello.\u201d I\u2019d stand outside the band rehearsal room in high school and just listen to the bass player.<\/p>\n
Which bassists influenced you?<\/b><\/p>\n
I was listening to pretty much everything. So of course McCartney, but also James Jamerson, who was on all the Motown stuff, and Chuck Rainey, who played on Aretha\u2019s records. Tower of Power had Rocco Prestia, and Earth, Wind and Fire had Verdine White. Peter Cetera from Chicago was another. And players like Stanley Clarke. When Jaco Pastorius came along, he just messed everybody up. He was unbelievable\u2014you couldn\u2019t help but be influenced by him.<\/p>\n
How did Fourplay come together?<\/b><\/p>\n
Lee Ritenour, Harvey Mason and I all played on Bob James\u2019 Grand Piano Canyon<\/i> record. Harvey recommended me to Bob, so I\u2019m forever grateful for that, and when Bob asked Lee about bass players Lee also put my name in the hat. Fourplay was great because it was organic and had a sound of its own.<\/p>\n
The band hit big right away.<\/b><\/p>\n
You can never predict how it\u2019s going to go. Four guys decide to do a quartet and the next thing you know it blows up. Those first few albums became classics. But I understood why\u2014those three guys are some of my favorite musicians, so there was sort of this supergroup persona. All three were solo artists in their own right. It was great to have that be more than a one-time thing. The thing I love about Fourplay is that we got together for the fun of it. We didn\u2019t have any rules. To me that\u2019s freedom, and that\u2019s what I love about playing music. We could do whatever we wanted. And it was just fun.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s most notable about your work with Eric Clapton?\u00a0 \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
The sheer number of hours we\u2019ve put in together. We\u2019ve been through a lot, and still to this day, we\u2019re able to stand onstage together and have a great time\u2014it\u2019s a wonderful association and collaboration. We listen to similar styles of music, and we have similar visions. Musically, Eric and I nearly complete each other\u2019s sentences, and that\u2019s a special relationship. You don\u2019t really know you\u2019ve had that until you\u2019ve played with someone for a long time.<\/p>\n
Recall some unusual sessions?<\/b><\/p>\n
One of the most challenging was a Wayne Shorter album called Joy Ryder<\/i>. He writes these tunes that don\u2019t necessarily lend to your fingers. His compositions are so amazing\u2014some songs I had to take home and really practice so I could make them sound natural. A lot of people don\u2019t know that I played on a Judas Priest record. I don\u2019t know if that was meant to be public knowledge or not. At one point their bass player was in rehab, and they were recording, and they asked me to come in but to keep it under the radar.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re a licensed pilot.<\/b><\/p>\n
I love flying! My brother David got his license first and the four of us brothers kind of tagged along. I said, \u201cAh, man, I can do this,\u201d so I took flying lessons and loved it. Our father was an aerodynamics design engineer, so aviation was in our blood. I\u2019m an airplane owner now.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next?<\/b><\/p>\n
The solo record was one of the things on my bucket list. People ask me who I\u2019d want to play with\u2014I\u2019ve never played with Steely Dan or Pat Metheny. James Taylor and I played at President Obama\u2019s inauguration, but I\u2019d love to do more with James. It would be fun to tour with Sting or McCartney. Sure, those guys play bass, but if they need a bass player I\u2019d love to jump in there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NATHAN EAST With his first solo album, the renowned bassist shortens his bucket list By Jeff Tamarkin For more than four decades, Nathan East has contributed dynamic and innovative basslines to recordings and live performances by a vast array of artists, including Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Michael Jackson, Beyonc\u00e9 and duo Daft Punk, whose Grammy-winning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3805],"tags":[7650,7638],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14604"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14604"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14606,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14604\/revisions\/14606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}