Nathan East

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Nathan East (born December 8 1955, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a jazz, R&B and rock bass player. Born to Thomas and Gwendolyn East, he was one of seven children (five boys and two girls) and raised in San Diego, California, where the family moved when he was four.

East first studied cello in seventh through ninth grades and played in his junior high school orchestra. At fourteen he developed an interest in bass guitar, playing in church groups and folk masses with his brothers in San Diego. He was active in his high school's music programs along with Top 40 bands. He has said his early influences included Ron Carter and Ray Brown on upright bass; and Paul McCartney, James Jamerson and Chuck Rainey on electric bass.

East has recorded, performed and co-written songs with Anita Baker, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Joe Satriani, Sting, Quincy Jones, Al Jarreau, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock and David Benoit. He co-wrote "Easy Lover", a Number one hit, for Phil Collins and Philip Bailey. Nathan also appears on Andrea Bocelli's, (2007). East has been a member of Eric Clapton's studio and touring bands from 1983 to 2005.

Nathan has endorsed Yamaha instruments since 1981 and developed his own Signature model 5-string bass, the BBNE2, available worldwide. He uses a custom 6-string version of his signature bass since late 2003. During the late 1980s and early 1990s Nathan played two Yamaha TRB6 6-strings (finished in amber cherry burst and polar white), a pair of Music Man StingRay 5 basses (a rosewood-neck Vintage Sunburst and a maple-neck Black), an Elrick 5-string Evolution through-neck and a Guild acoustic 4-string on the Unplugged album of 1992.

His awards include Most Valuable Player (bass category) at the International Rock Awards and Bassist of the Year at three of the last four National Smooth Jazz Awards, NARAS MVP (bassist), ASCAP Most performed work and Ivor Novello Award for "Easy Lover". In 2007 Nathan received a Congressional Record as an award for his achievements and contribution to the music community worldwide. He is one of the original members of the jazz group Fourplay, along with Bob James (keyboards), Lee Ritenour (later replaced by Larry Carlton) and Harvey Mason (drums). Their Grammy-nominated albums have earned gold status, and have topped Billboard's contemporary jazz charts.

Other recordings have included Eric Clapton's Grammy winning "Tears In Heaven" from the Unplugged album, and "Change the World" from the soundtrack of the 1996 film, Phenomenon. He is credited on the soundtrack of Waiting to Exhale. He has also recorded with Toni Braxton, Lionel Richie, Sergio Mendes, Babyface and Eros Ramazzotti . He made an instructional DVD called 'The Business of Bass'.

East holds a bachelor of arts degree in music from the University of California, San Diego.

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Last updated on Friday February 22, 2008 at 07:09:06 PST (GMT -0800)
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