NATHAN EAST Biography

Born one of the eight children of Thomas and Gwendolyn East on December 8, 1955, in Philadelphia, PA, Nathan East and his family moved to San Diego, CA, when he was four years old to accommodate his father's aerodynamic engineering position at General Dynamics. As a child, East would peck out familiar melodies on the family piano. Music filled the home as his sister Cecilia practiced french horn and their sister Gerty played the flute. When Nathan was in the seventh grade, he began playing cello in his junior high school orchestra. At age 14, he switched to bass guitar, inspired by his older brother David's mastery of the guitar. He began playing for local church groups and folk masses with his brothers including regular performances at Christ The King Church in southeast San Diego.

East played along with the recordings of jazz bassists Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Charles Mingus, Buster Williams and Scott LaFaro. He was also captivated by the sound of Motown's legendary James Jamerson, Carole Kaye, Jack Bruce and Cream, Paul McCartney and the Beatles as they came over the radio or out of his record player. When Nathan heard Monk Mongomery's melodic lead bass playing on his album Reality, he realized just how powerful the instrument was. The young bassist began playing in his high school's jazz ensemble, marching band, choir, chorus, and pep band, as well as local Top 40 bands. Bassists like Francis Rocco Prestia of Tower of Power, Verdine White of Earth Wind & Fire and Larry Graham with Sly & the Family Stone were great examples of how the bass player can drive a band. He also listened to the music of Wes Montgomery, Quincy Jones, Cannonball Adderley, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, George Benson, Bob James, Harvey Mason, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix and Santana. Nathan credits Chuck Rainey as being one of his biggest influences for his melodic style and mastery of the bass using double stops and chords and simply his rare choice notes, taste, tone, technique and feel.

One of East's early breakthroughs came while he was a member of a local band named Power. They were hired as the house band for a Stax revue. The recognition brought the attention of Barry White, who hired the entire band for a national tour. Still a teenager, East became a member of the Love Unlimited Orchestra ("Love's Theme") playing The Apollo Theater, Madison Square Garden, Kennedy Center, Detroit's Cobo Arena and other major US venues. This no doubt was a great experience for the young musician who would later travel extensively throughout his career.

In 1978, East earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music Performance from the University of California San Diego. He began work on a master's degree when instructor Bertram Turetzky suggested that he already had enough education and that it was time for him to move to Los Angeles to try and start a lucrative music career.

While involved with the San Diego club and studio scene, Barry White contacted him to play on many of his recording projects. In early 1980, veteran writer/arranger Gene Page, whom East had worked with on White's sessions, called the bassist to play on a recording session for a national Hertz Rent-a-Car commercial. Impressed with East's ability to read music as well as his diverse playing skills, Page used East on all of his projects including recordings for Whitney Houston, Madonna, Dionne Warwick and Michael Jackson.

As East's reputation grew on the L.A. session scene, so did his job calls. From that point on, East worked consistently. He did sessions for Lionel Richie and Diana Ross "Endless Love", Kenny Rogers "Lady", Quincy Jones "Back On The Block", Kenny Loggins "Footloose" & "Vox Humana". He toured with Loggins appearing with the singer at Live Aid in 1985. Eric Clapton heard Nathan and invited him to join his band. With keyboardist Greg Phillinganes and drummer Phil Collins, they toured the world over and performed multiple concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall which resulted in the release of Clapton's "24 Nights" CD, (1988). With Clapton, he would go on to record numerous CD's including Journeyman, August, Behind The Sun, Pilgrim, Reptile and the Multi-Grammy Award winning multi-platinum Clapton MTV Unplugged CD.

In 1990, while in the studio recording Bob James' Grand Piano Canyon album, the keyboardist asked East, Lee Ritenour, and Harvey Mason if they'd be interested in forming a group where each member would be an equal partner and could contribute songs. James, who at the time held an executive position at Warner Bros.' jazz A&R department, got them a deal with the label; a couple of months later, the group now known as Fourplay began recording their debut album. Their first record, 1991's F

ourplay, sold over a million copies and remained at the number one position on Billboard's contemporary jazz charts for 33 weeks. Their next LP, 1993's Between the Sheets, reached number one, went gold, and received a Grammy nomination. In 1995, their third gold album, Elixir, inherited the number one position from Kenny G's Breathless and remained on the charts for more than 90 weeks. Fourplay's 4 album entered the jazz charts at number one when guitarist Larry Carlton joined the band. Now, after fifteen years together, nine CD's and 5 Grammy nominations, Fourplay's X CD debuted at number one (Billboard Contemporary Jazz) remaining there for more than two months.

In 1991, Nathan was voted the Most Valuable Player in the bass category at the International Rock Awards and is three time recipient of the National Smooth Jazz Award Bassist of the Year. He also won Britains most prestigious Ivor Novello Award for co-writing the number one hit song "Easy Lover" with Phil Collins and Philip Bailey (1984). The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences has awarded East Emeritus status for winning the most consecutive years as MVP Bassist.

After more than twenty-five years of playing and endorsing YAMAHA basses, East has collaborated with YAMAHA and developed his own Signature Series 5-String bass guitar the BBNE-2 available in stores worldwide.

www.yamaha.com He also has an instructional video, Contemporary Electric Bass and instructional DVD, The Business of Bass, (distributed by Hal Leonard Music Publishing Co), a behind the scenes look that goes into considerable detail on the steps he has taken throughout his career, and the mindset that has successfully earned him both the profile and a respect many players would be pleased to call their own.
The Business of Bass DVD

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