Nathan East has been active since the late '70s as one of the most prominent bassists in R&B, jazz, and pop. Born one of the seven children of Thomas and Gwendolyn East in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
East and his family moved to San Diego, California, when he was four years old to accommodate his father's aerodynamics engineering job. As a child,
East pecked out familiar melodies on the family piano. He began playing the cello in his junior high school orchestra. At the age of 14,
East switched to bass guitar, inspired by his older brother David's mastery of the instrument. He began playing for local church groups and folk masses with his brothers.
East played along with the recordings of bassists
Ron Carter,
Charles Mingus,
Buster Williams, and Motown's
James Jamerson, as well as albums by
James Brown,
Cream, and horn bands like
Chicago,
Tower of Power, and
Blood, Sweat & Tears. The young bassist began playing in his high school's jazz ensemble, marching band, choir, chorus, and pep band, as well as Top 40 bands.
East's breakthrough came while he was a member of a band named
Power. They were hired as the road band for a Stax revue.
Barry White subsequently hired the band -- while
East was still a teenager -- as performing members of his
Love Unlimited Orchestra.
East earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from the University of California at San Diego. He was starting to work on a Master's degree when instructor
Bertram Turetzky suggested that he could begin a lucrative music career.
White contacted him to play on some of his recording projects, and in 1980, veteran writer/arranger
Gene Page, with whom
East worked on
White's sessions, called the bassist to play on a recording session for a commercial jingle. Impressed with
East's ability to read music as well as his diverse playing skills,
Page used
East on numerous projects, including sessions for
Dionne Warwick and
Johnny Mathis.
As
East's reputation grew on the L.A. session scene, so did his job calls. From that point on,
East worked consistently. By the end of the decade, he was recording during hundreds of sessions for the likes of
Phyllis Hyman,
George Benson,
Anita Baker, and
Kenny Loggins. He also toured with
Loggins and was part of
Eric Clapton's late-'80s band. Some of the '80s hits on which he is featured include
Loggins' "Footloose,"
Dennis Edwards' "Don't Look Any Further," and
Anita Baker's "Fairy Tales." He also co-wrote and played on
Philip Bailey and
Phil Collins' Grammy-nominated "Easy Lover."
In 1990, while 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 worked for Warner Bros.' jazz A&R department, got them a deal with the label; a couple months later, the group now known as
Fourplay began recording their debut album. That set, 1991's
Fourplay, sold half-a-million copies and remained at number one on Billboard's contemporary jazz chart 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 held on to the top spot for a record 92 weeks.
Through the early 2010s,
Fourplay remained one of the most commercially successful contemporary jazz acts; by the end of 2012, they had released a dozen studio albums, all of which peaked within the Top Five of the jazz chart. All the while,
East remained busy as a session musician. His profile extended beyond jazz and R&B again in 2013, due to his involvement on
Daft Punk's
Random Access Memories, which was certified platinum and won Album of the Year at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony. In March 2014 he released his first solo album, a self-titled set on which he was joined by several longtime associates, including
Stevie Wonder,
Michael McDonald,
Eric Clapton,
Ray Parker, Jr., and
Greg Phillinganes. The following year, he and
James teamed up for
The New Cool, a low-key, mostly instrumental album with
Vince Gill the lone vocal contributor (on a version of
Willie Nelson's "Crazy"). In 2017,
East released
Reverence. The album included an update of
Earth, Wind & Fire's "Serpentine Fire" recorded with that band's
Philip Bailey,
Verdine White, and Ralph Johnson, and also featured contributions from
Eric Clapton and
Phil Collins. ~ Ed Hogan & Andy Kellman