Nathan East

Nathan East established himself from the late 1970s onward as a leading bassist across R&B, jazz, and pop. One of seven children born to Thomas and Gwendolyn East in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he relocated with his family to San Diego, California, at age four after his father accepted an aerodynamics engineering position. As a youngster he picked out familiar tunes on the household piano before taking up cello in his junior high orchestra. At fourteen he turned to bass guitar, motivated by his older brother David’s command of the instrument, and soon joined his siblings for performances at local church services and folk masses. He studied the work of Ron Carter, Charles Mingus, Buster Williams, and Motown’s James Jamerson, along with recordings by James Brown, Cream, and horn-driven ensembles such as Chicago, Tower of Power, and Blood, Sweat & Tears. During high school he performed in the jazz ensemble, marching band, choir, chorus, pep band, and various Top 40 groups.

His first major break arrived as a member of the band Power, which was engaged as the road band for a Stax revue; shortly afterward Barry White enlisted the group—including the still-teenage East—as the performing unit for his Love Unlimited Orchestra. East completed a Bachelor of Arts in music at the University of California, San Diego, and was pursuing a master’s degree when instructor Bertram Turetzky encouraged him to launch a professional career. White soon invited him to contribute to recording projects, and in 1980 arranger Gene Page, whom East had met during White’s sessions, contacted him for a commercial jingle date. Impressed by his sight-reading and stylistic range, Page brought him onto numerous subsequent dates, among them dates for Dionne Warwick and Johnny Mathis.

As East’s standing rose on the Los Angeles session circuit, calls multiplied, and steady work followed throughout the decade. By its close he had appeared on hundreds of sessions for artists including Phyllis Hyman, George Benson, Anita Baker, and Kenny Loggins, toured with Loggins, and joined Eric Clapton’s late-’80s band. Among the era’s notable tracks featuring his playing are Loggins’ “Footloose,” Dennis Edwards’ “Don’t Look Any Further,” and Anita Baker’s “Fairy Tales.” He also co-wrote and performed on the Grammy-nominated “Easy Lover” by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins.

While tracking Bob James’ 1990 album Grand Piano Canyon, the pianist proposed that East, Lee Ritenour, and Harvey Mason form an equal-partnership group in which each member could contribute material. James, then working in Warner Bros.’ jazz A&R division, secured a label deal; within months the quartet, now called Fourplay, began recording its debut. The resulting 1991 album Fourplay sold half a million copies and held the top spot on Billboard’s contemporary jazz chart for thirty-three weeks. Its 1993 follow-up Between the Sheets also reached number one, earned gold certification, and received a Grammy nomination. The third gold album, 1995’s Elixir, succeeded Kenny G’s Breathless at number one and remained there for a record ninety-two weeks.

Fourplay sustained its commercial prominence through the early 2010s, issuing a dozen studio albums by the end of 2012, each of which reached the Top Five on the jazz chart. Throughout this period East continued his extensive session activity. His visibility widened beyond jazz and R&B in 2013 through his participation on Daft Punk’s platinum-certified Random Access Memories, which received the Album of the Year award at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. In March 2014 he issued his self-titled debut solo album, featuring longtime colleagues Stevie Wonder, Michael McDonald, Eric Clapton, Ray Parker, Jr., and Greg Phillinganes. The next year he and James collaborated on The New Cool, a subdued, largely instrumental set with Vince Gill as the sole vocalist on a rendition of Willie Nelson’s “Crazy.” East released Reverence in 2017; the album contained a new version of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Serpentine Fire” recorded with Philip Bailey, Verdine White, and Ralph Johnson, and included contributions from Eric Clapton and Phil Collins.