HAVE YOU EVER RUN ACROSS THOSE KIND OF PEOPLE THAT YOU ALWAYS WANT TO BE AROUND? THERE SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT THEM. IN SPORTS, LIKE WITH MAGIC JOHNSON , THEY ARE ALWAYS ON THE WINNING TEAM. IN MUSIC, IT’S GUYS LIKE BASSIST NATHAN EAST.
IN THE BIBLE, PEOPLE WERE ATTRACTED TO JOSEPH BECAUSE HE HAD “GOD’S FAVOR.” HE DIDN’T HAVE AN EASY LIFE, BUT EVERYTHING HE TOUCHED SUCCEEDED. SIMILARLY, ARTISTS AS FAR RANGING AS HERBIE HANCOCK TO ERIC CLAPTON FIND SOMETHING SPECIAL IN EAST’S PLAYING AND PERSONA.
BESIDES BEING A CHARTER MEMBER OF THE 25 YEAR OLD BAND FOURPLAY, EAST HAS BEEN IN BANDS AND ON RECORDINGS WITH NANCOCK, CLAPTON, PHIL COLLINS, GEORGE HARRISON, QUINCY JONES, AL JARREAU AND EVEN BARRY WHITE! AND, AS WITH MOST ARTISTS WHO HAVE BEEN BLESSED BY GOD, EAST CONTINUES TO BE GRATEFUL, THANKFUL AND WILLING TO GROW AS AN ARTIST AS A PERSON. HE SEES HIS CAREER AS A REASON TO BE INSPIRED TO IMPROVE BOTH ARISTICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY.
WITH SUCH A FULL RANGED CAREER, IT’S SOMETHING OF A SURPRISE THAT IT’S TAKEN THIS LONG FOR EAST TO PUT OUT A SOLO ALBUM, SELF TITLED, WHICH CAME OUT IN 2014. HIS RECENT DUET ALBUM WITH BOB JAMES (THE NEW COOL) IS A RICH TAPESTRY OF MUSICAL CONVERSATIONS THAT IS GETTING LOTS OF ATTENTION AS WELL.
WE RECENTLY CAUGHT UP WITH NATHAN EAST, IN BETWEEN TOURS.
YOU GREW UP IN SAN DIEGO, NOT EXACTLY A BASTIAN OF JAZZ, IS IT?
I was born in Philadelphia, and spent a few years there before moving to San Diego, but we used to go back every summer. I would get together with some of the musicians there and kind of appreciate what was going on there. You could still get some of the influence, so it was pretty nice.
But there was a pretty nice scene in San Diego. You’ve got Charles McPherson, Hollis Gentry, Burt Turetzky was my instructor there at UCSD as well…Carl Evans, Steve Lauri…a lot of music going around with a lot of opportunities.
YOU ALSO GREW UP PLAYING IN THE CHURCH
Every Sunday we were in a church. We were kind of a mixture; my father actually was a Baptist but went to a Methodist church, and we were Catholic-raised with a priest in the family! So, we never segregated, we were kind of going to Christ the King Catholic church one Sunday and then be at the Methodist church the next.
When they started having the folk masses, that’s when we started contributing music. We’d write music to the liturgy every Sunday and go there and play. It was a great start!
HOW DID GOING TO CHURCH AFFECT YOU MUSICALLY?
There’s a lot of music in church. Go down the block on any Sunday and you’ll hear great music. In fact, I love going to this church in Fiji (we go there a lot) and the voices that you hear, the timbre of there voices in the music is something very special.
Music is a very spiritual thing, whether it’s a Gregorian Chant or “Hey Lawdy Mama” gospel . There’s a nerve that it touches, and it’s something extra special when you’re in a house of worship.
HOW ABOUT PERSONALLY?
Well, I think it trains you to try and be a better person , help mankind and your fellow brother. So at least from just a humanitarian standpoint the church gives you focus and compassion toward your fellow man.
For me, it gave me a clue that there is a Spirit and a Higher Form that guides me that I try to follow.
DO YOU STILL GO TO CHURCH?
Absolutely. When I’m in DC my brother has a parish in Anacostia called Saint Theresa, and I’ve been there a lot recently. I’ve been in DC on days when I can attend mass, and that’s been great. We have a church called In His Presence which is in the San Fernando Valley which is sort of non-denominational.
It’s a beautiful service. Jonathan Butler used to be kind of the musical director there, so I’d make sure I get there early!
YOUR SPIRITUAL WALK CONFIRMS A THEORY OF MINE. WHEN SOMEONE HAS A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, OTHER PEOPLE CAN SENSE GOD’S FAVOR IN HIM OR HER, AND WANT THEM TO BE PART OF THEIR TEAM, INEVITABLY BRINGIN A BLESSING TO THEIR MUSIC . SORT OF LIKE JOSEPH HELPING OUT PHAROAH DURING THE FAMINE.
It’s interesting, because religion can be one of those types of things that when you’re filled with it you’re overwhelmed. But, you don’t want to necessarily be hitting people over the head.
LIKE THAT LINE BY ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI, “PREACH THE GOSPEL AT ALL TIMES; USE WORD IF NECESSARY.”
Exactly! And so there’s a fine line. Nowadays I wonder what God thinks, as so many times religion is used to divide people more than unifying them.
IT’S THE SAME WITH MUSIC. IT USED TO UNITE PEOPLE, BUT NOW IT SEEMS TO DIVIDE. THAT”S WHY IT’S SO INTERESTING THAT YOU ARE SO “ECUMENICAL” IN WHOM YOU PLAY WITH, RANGING FROM FOURPLAY TO ERIC CLAPTON
I don’t really observe the labels and boundaries of music, and one of the things that I try to do is that if I’m in a rock and roll scenario, for instance, I’ll try to insert a little jazz or funk and vice versa where I can be a hybrid type of musician.
You’re dealing with the same instrument, you’ve got the same notes to work with. So why is there a limitation or boundary where you are going to just label something?
HOW DID ERIC CLAPTON FIND YOU?
What a dear and close association we’ve had for 35 years! I was introduced to him, it was almost fate (Ed Note-here we go again with God’s favor!) because when I worked with Phil Collins on the Phillip Bailey album, he took me by a pub out in the English countryside. I met Eric there one night, but it was just to say “hello” and that we were working together.
Shortly after I had played Live Aid with Kenny Loggins, with Eric standing on the side of the stage ready to go on with Phil Collins, I came off and he said, “Let’s get together.”
We then kind of met when he did his first album Behind the Sun (1985), the producers Lenny Waronker had a stable of musicians; me , Jeff Porcaro, Steve Lukather and that gang. So we agreed to meet and work together. Obviously, when he put the band together with me and Phil Collins it became a love of all of our lives and toured for a few years with it, doing 24 Nights and then the recent Royal Albert Hall album just did his 70th birthday celebration. Lots of fun; seven nights there and a couple nights at Madison Square Garden.
To this day Phil is still so much fun to be on stage and play with. I feel like the most blessed guy in the world to just jump right on stage with them.
Now we’re playing at The Blue Note in NYC with Fourplay all week, making music with my buddies like Bob James, and this most recent album of ours (The New Cool) is one of those albums where there’s nothing to hide behind. There’s just us two guys, so you really have to bring it!
HAVE YOU EVER ASKED CLAPTON WHY HE KEEPS YOU?
(laughs) I’m just glad that we’ve been hanging all of these years. To be honest, every job I’ve ever had, whenever the call comes to come back, I’m just so appreciative.
When Quincy Jones calls you for a Michael Jackson record, you do it and he calls you for the next one…for me, the call back is really the most gratifying thing.
This business is all about relationships. So that’s one of the things that I appreciate as well. When you work with great people, it’s also like a marriage.
A DOCTOR ONCE TOLD ME “YOU CAN GET ANY FOOL TO COME TO YOU ONE TIME. THE REAL TEST IS IF HE TRUSTS YOU ENOUGH AND COMES IN FOR THE SECOND VIST
That’s fantastic. It’s interesting, because I just got off the plane and I’m here in Chinatown from a red-eye. I’ve been travelling internationally a lot lately and have been having some back pain. I looked around the corner here and found a chiropractor with the best Yelp reviews. She got her elbow in me and WOW!! What a knot!
HOW DID YOU INITIALLY JOIN UP WITH JAMES AND FOURPLAY, NOW THAT YOU’RE CELEBRATING 25 YEARS TOGETHER?
When Bob came to Los Angeles to record his solo album in 1990, he (Lee) Ritenour and Harvey (Mason), with whom he’d known and played with on separate occasions, were each asked who he should hire for a bassist. Independently, they both said my name. I had nothing to do with it except play.
They recommended me, and so the four of us got together, and that was the first time I worked with Bob. I was always a big fan, going back to the 70s. The chemistry was just so great on that session, and Bob being an A&R person for Warner Brothers suggested “Hey, I bet we can get a deal.” Just like that.
So we went to them with the concept. It was signed the next day and the next thing you know we were in the studio.
WHAT HAS MADE IT LAST FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY? LONGER THAN MANY MARRIAGES!!!
I think it’s the music, first of all. The comradery and friendship is next, and then the fact that everyone is a gentleman and we enjoy what we do. We also have a level of gratitude for the opportunity.
YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE AN INTIMATE WALK WITH GOD. DO YOU EVER TALK ABOUT SPIRITUAL THINGS WITH FELLOW MUSICIANS SUCH AS HANCOCK OR CLAPTON? OR, DO YOU JUST TRY TO KEEP DEFERNTIAL SINCE THEY ARE HIRING YOU?
As you probably know, Herbie (Hancock) is a devout Buddhist and has been chanting for the better part of 40-50 years for every day of his life. Clapton talks to me; he told me “God must have a mission for me because I’m still here doing this.”
I love it. I’ll jump in and chat with Herbie and Wayne Shorter and I feel like it’s a language that puts us all together. Whether you sit in a room and have a conversation or you’re just sitting there in silence before a performance… we pray before we go out on stage with every band that I’m in.
DO YOUR HAVE TO SHIFT YOUR MUSICAL GEARS WHEN YOU GO FROM HANCOCK’S TYPE OF JAZZ FOURPLAY TO CLAPTON’S BLUESY ROCK?
To me, it’s just all so seamless. All of these guys that I play with were on my “playlist” when I was growing up. I listened to Hendrix, Clapton, Herbie, Quincy Jones, Earth, Wind and Fire. I was all over the map.
This is probably why when I made my record it was all a combination of my favorite music and musicians.
YEAH! YOU FINALLY PUT OUT YOUR OWN ALBUM! WHAT WAS THE IMPETUS?
One was the fact that I was in Fourplay and I was the only one that did not have a solo album out there. Also, to be honest, after twenty years of interviews with people asking “When are you going to make a Nathan East album?” I was finally able to do it and get everyone that’s been hounding me off my back!
Besides, I’ve been so busy having the time of my life playing with…I just was looking at pictures of myself playing with George Harrison. You gotta just wake up every day and pinch yourself with these kind of gigs.
But then, it’s also been so much fun putting out a solo album and doing my own gigs. I feel like there’s a whole new chapter on something I haven’t actually done before in the 35 years I’ve been doing this. It’s a whole new game and I’m loving it, too!
WHAT ADVISE WOULD YOU GIVE A YOUNG BASS PLAYER ON MAKING A SUCCESSFUL CAREER?
First of all, you’re going to have to love it and be ready to just go into the trenches. Sometimes you’re not going to even get paid, but just play the bass whenever you can. Play a solid foundation.
I do clinics at a lot of colleges around the world for a lot of young bass players. The one thing that I stress is that “everyone can practice some really crazy and impressive stuff in your room, but music and playing bass is about a conversation, a dialogue on stage.” It’s not something that is pre-determined; you have to go in there, listen and do what’s right. To this day I select every note with the greatest of care based on what I’m hearing on stage.
HAS THERE BEEN A POINT IN YOUR CAREER, AFTER PLAYING ALL THESE GIGS THAT YOU’VE SAID “HEY, I’VE MADE IT!”
I haven’t reached that point yet!
IT’S JUST LIKE FAITH. THE APOSTLE PAUL EVEN SAYS “NOT THAT I’VE ARRIVED, BUT I PRESS FORWARD”
The more I learn, the more I realize that there is to learn. I have a daughter that is a competitive gymnast. She goes to the gym 5-6 hours a day almost every day of her life. I think to myself, “If I did ANYTHING with that much diligence I’d be a million times better.
I’m always very thankful for the calls and gigs that I’ve done, but I do realize that there’s so much more to learn.
ONE LAST QUESTION FOR A GUILTY PLEASURE: TELL ME ABOUT PLAYING WITH BARRY WHITE!!!
(laughs) It was the thrill of a lifetime. I was 16 years old, and at that point he was just making hit after hit. I loved it; what an introduction! To play Madison Square Garden in a tuxedo with the Love Unlimited Orchestra…the Apollo Theatre…the Kennedy Center…it’s then that I knew I was hooked.
I’ll be forever grateful to him for showing me how to come up with bass lines. He came up with some of the greatest bass lines. For a lot of those records he would just come around and sing me the bass lines and they were just so fascinating to me. I tell people I went to “Barry White University.”
HOW IS YOUR VOCAL IMPERSONATION OF BARRY WHITE? YOU MUST HAVE IT DOWN!
RIGHT ON!!!
NATHAN EAST’S CAREER IS A REFLECTION OF HIS DEVOUT FAITH, AS HE BECOMES ‘ALL THINGS TO ALL MEN’ TO REFLECT GOD TO THEM. LIKE THE RISING SUN, HE SHINES HOPE, AND WITH HIS FAITH IN THE RISEN SON, HE OFFERS HOPE TO A WORLD VIA MUSIC TO AN EVEN GREATER, MORE ETERNAL, SONG.
CHECK OUT HIS SOLO AND DUET ALBUM AND HAVE SOME LIGHT SHINE IN YOUR LIFE.