Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass guitarist and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from the University of California, San Diego (1978). He is a founding member of contemporary jazz quartet Fourplay and has recorded, performed, and co-written songs with performers such as Bobby Womack, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Joe Satriani, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Phil Collins, Stevie Wonder, Toto, Kenny Loggins, Daft Punk, Chick Corea, and Herbie Hancock.

Career

Early life

Nathan Harrell East was born on December 8, 1955, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Thomas and Gwendolyn East. He is one of eight children (five boys and three girls) raised Catholic in San Diego, where the family moved when he was four; and still practices the faith. He is the younger brother of Msgr Ray East of St Teresa of Avila Church in DC.

East first studied cello from seventh through ninth grade and played in local Horace Mann junior high school's orchestra. At age fourteen he developed an interest in the bass guitar, playing in church with his brothers Raymond and David. He was active in his (Crawford) high school's music programs along with a local top 40 band called "Power". He has said his early influences included Charles Mingus, Ray Brown and Ron Carter on upright bass; and James Jamerson, Paul McCartney and Chuck Rainey on electric bass. He studied music at UC San Diego. Nathan East is also an accomplished amateur magician member of The Magic Castle and the Academy of Magical Arts.

Music career

thumb|left|Nathan East as a member of [[Eric Clapton|Eric Clapton's band, Detroit, September 10, 2022]]

East is a founding member of the contemporary jazz band Fourplay with Bob James (keyboards), Lee Ritenour on guitar (later replaced by Larry Carlton and Chuck Loeb) and Harvey Mason (drums).

He has worked with Bobby Womack (on the album The Poet),

East's self-titled debut solo album was released on March 25, 2014. During recording, he was joined by several of his longtime associates, including Stevie Wonder, Michael McDonald, Eric Clapton, Ray Parker Jr., and Greg Phillinganes. Returning from Japan, East joined Eric Clapton's nephew, Will Johns, and The Cream of Clapton Band at their April 30 show in San Diego. East's son, Noah East, has been a part of The Cream of Clapton Band since early 2023 and toured with the band throughout the spring of 2023.

Equipment

thumb|Nathan East plays a Yamaha SLB200 Silent Upright Bass with [[Fourplay at Knight Theater in Charlotte, North Carolina, on June 8, 2014.]]

With Yamaha, East developed a custom 5-string bass guitar signature model, the BBNE (modeled after his early 1980s BB5000 5-string bass). The second signature bass, the BBNE2, was released in 2001. A limited edition 30th Anniversary version (the BBNE2 LTD) was released in 2011. He has also used custom 6-string prototypes of his BBNE2 bass guitar between 2003 and 2005, along with his black 1980s LB-1 Motion 5-string bass and a pair of 6-string TRB6P models. Yamaha introduced the NE1 Parametric EQ Pedal, otherwise known as the "Magic Box" in the early 2000s. This pedal essentially gives the player the ability to use the "Nathan East EQ curve" on any bass they choose. East also plays a Yamaha SLB200 Silent Upright Bass.

In 2019, East co-developed a custom in-ear monitor dubbed N8 (a product abbreviation that plays on East's first name, Nate) with 64 Audio, an Oregon-based manufacturer of in-ear monitors for stage performers, mixing engineers and audio enthusiasts.

Awards and honors

  • Ivor Novello Award, British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors for "Easy Lover"
  • Most Valuable Player (bass), International Rock Awards
  • Bassist of the Year, U.S. National Smooth Jazz Awards
  • Most Valuable Player (bass), N.A.R.A.S.
  • Most Performed Work, ASCAP
  • Honored by U.S. Congress, 2007

Discography

Albums

Fourplay

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year

! Album

! Label

|-

| 1991

| Fourplay

| rowspan="7"| Warner Bros.

|-

| 1993

| Between the Sheets

|-

| 1995

| Elixir

|-

| 1997

| The Best of Fourplay

|-

| 1998

| 4

|-

| 1999

| Snowbound

|-

| 2000

| Yes, Please!

|-

| 2002

| Heartfelt

| rowspan="3"| Bluebird

|-

| 2004

| Journey

|-

| 2006

| X

|-

| 2008

| Energy

| rowspan="4"| Heads Up

|-

| 2010

| Let's Touch the Sky

|-

| 2012

| Esprit de Four

|-

| 2015

| Silver

|-

|}

Solo

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Album

! colspan="6"| Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Label

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! style="width="50px;"|US<br />200<br />

! style="width="50px;"|US<br />Top<br />Sales<br />

! style="width="50px;"|US<br />Jazz<br />

! style="width="50px;"|US<br />Con.<br />Jazz<br />

! style="width="50px;"|US<br />Top<br />Cur<br />

! style="width="50px;"|US<br />Ind<br />

|-

| 2014

| align="left"| Nathan East

| 193

| 193

| 2

| 1

| 163

| 41

| rowspan="3"| Yamaha Entertainment Group

|-

| 2015

| align="left"| The New Cool <br />

| —

| —

| 5

| 2

| —

| —

|-

| 2017

| align="left"| Reverence

| —

| —

| 1

| 1

| —

| 23

|-

| colspan="9" style="font-size:90%" |"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

|-

|}

Charted singles

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center";

|-

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Title

! colspan="1"| Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Album

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! style="width:50px;"| Smooth Jazz<br />Airplay<br />

|-

| rowspan="2"| 2014

| align="left"| "Daft Funk"

| 2

| rowspan="3"| Nathan East

|-

| align="left"| "101 Eastbound"

| 11

|-

| 2015

| align="left"| "Moondance" <br />

| 21

|-

| 2016

| align="left"| "Lifecycle"

| 1

| rowspan="2"| Reverence

|-

| 2017

| align="left"| "Serpentine Fire" <br />

| 17

|-

| 2023

| align="left"| "Nujazzy" <br />

| 1

| Bobby Lyle – Ivory Flow

|-

| rowspan="2"| 2024

| align="left"| "Love of Your Life" <br />

| 9

| Lindsey Webster – Reasons

|-

| align="left"| "Longing for You" <br />

| 1

| Donald Hayes – Soul Searching

|-

|}

Live collaborations

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

! Year

! style="width:12em;"| Artist

! Show/Collaboration

! Member/Guest

|-

| 1971

| Barry White

|

| Band Member

|-

| 1971

| The Love Unlimited Orchestra

|

| Band Member

|-

| 1979

| Patrice Rushen

|

| Band Member

|-

| 1980

| Lee Ritenour

|

| Band Member

|-

| 1981

| Hubert Laws

|

| Band Member

|-

| 1982

| Joe Sample

|

| Band Member

|-

| 1984

| Al Jarreau

|

| Band Member

|-

| 1985

| Kenny Loggins

| Live Aid

| Band Member

|-

| 1986

| Eric Clapton

|

| Band Member

|-

| 1991

| Fourplay

|

| Band Member

|-

|1992

|Eric Clapton

|Unplugged

|Band Member

|-

| 1994-1997

| Phil Collins

|

| Band Member

|-

| 2000

| Babyface

| Unplugged

| Band Member

|-

| 2006

| Herbie Hancock

|

| Band Member

|-

| 2010-2014

| Toto

|

| Band Member

|-

| 2014

| Daft Punk, Stevie Wonder, Nile Rodgers, Pharrell Williams

| Grammy Awards

| Performer

|-

| 2015

| Eric Clapton

|

| Band Member

|}

References

  • Official site
  • Online Electric Bass School with Nathan East
  • Fourplay homepage
  • Interview at Smooth Jazz Notes