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 Official Japan release date is February 28, 2015.

Japan Dates
February 28: Yamagata – Terrsa Hall
March 1: Tokyo – Cotton Club
March 3: Yokohama – Motion Blue
March 5-7: Tokyo – Blue Note

East is a session bass player without equal. He’s performed on more than 2,000 recordings with a list of artists that includes Michael Jackson — on the “Bad” album — Phil Collins, Kenny Loggins, Al Jarreau, Eric Clapton and hundreds more.

He was even one of the composers of “Get Lucky,” a worldwide hit for Daft Punk.

“It’s been one of those careers where I just wake up every day and pinch myself,” he says.

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Bob James and Nathan East met up at NAMM at the end of January to get together with some friends. 

Held at the Anaheim Convention Center, the start studded weekend long event presented the opportunity for some terrific collaborations.

Including a special performance featuring Jamie Cullum, Bob James, Nathan East, and Chris Gero in on the act.

Check some of the photos from the show below!

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Chuck Loeb strolled across the red carpet at the 2015 Grammy Awards, after being nominated for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for Jazz Funk Soul. (continue reading…)

On Sunday, Nathan East performed at the Grammys for the second straight year, this time celebrating his own hugely successful debut solo album.

Nathan performed with an all-star jazz quartet with Robert Glasper, Billy Hart and Joe Lovano at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

Continue to see the performance! (continue reading…)

After more than 1,500 recording credits, bass player Nathan East earned a Grammy nomination for his debut solo album on Franklin-based label Yamaha Entertainment Group.

Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Phil Collins, Wynonna Judd, Eric Clapton and Daft Punk are each linked by another, lesser-known, legend — Grammy-nominated artist Nathan East.

With a genre-spanning career and a track record of supporting music industry legends, the 58-year-old East already had an unrivaled career as a bass player before he partnered with Franklin-based Yamaha Entertainment Group for his first solo album. The album, titled “Nathan East,” is nominated for best contemporary instrumental jazz album.

While it marked East’s first album as a solo artist, he has more than 2,000 record credits to his name, making him one of, if not the most, recorded musicians ever. The Grammy recognition also represents validation for East’s record label home, Yamaha Entertainment Group, which is a division of the leading instrument company Yamaha Corporation of America.

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The GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony will take place at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Sunday, Feb. 8, from 12:30–3:30 p.m. PT, and present the first GRAMMY Awards of the day in approximately 70 categories. The ceremony will be hosted by current GRAMMY nominee Hunter Hayes and will stream live internationally at GRAMMY.com/live.

Attended by nominees and industry VIPs, the star-studded ceremony will feature performances by current nominees Angie Fisher, Cheyenne Jackson & Alexandra Silber, Old Crow Medicine Show, Ana Tijoux, and an all-star jazz quartet featuring Nathan East, Robert Glasper, Billy Hart, and Joe Lovano. Presenting the first GRAMMY Awards of the day in approximately 70 categories will be current nominees Rosanne Cash, Gloria Gaynor, Hilary Hahn, Smokie Norful, and John Waters as well as five-time GRAMMY-winning producer Jimmy Jam.

Hayes is nominated for Best Country Solo Performance for “Invisible.” He has received four previous GRAMMY nominations.

East, Fisher, Hart, Jackson & Silber, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Tijoux each have one nod: East for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for Nathan East; Fisher for Best Traditional R&B Performance for “I.R.S.”; Hart for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for Enjoy The View; Jackson & Silber for Best Musical Theater Album for West Side Story; Old Crow Medicine Show for Best Folk Album for Remedy; and Tijoux for Best Latin Rock, Urban Or Alternative Album for Vengo.

Read the Full Piece Here!

ANAHEIM, Calif. – You surely know the music of Nathan East, one of the most recorded bass players in history, who has played with everyone from Michael Jackson and Daft Punk to Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder.

East, who was inducted into the National Association of Music Merchants TEC Awards hall of Fame this weekend, for technical excellence, sat down with us over the weekend to discuss how technology has changed the way he cuts bass lines for records and teaches bass.

“I record anywhere now, from backstage, my hotel room, even a few minutes before the gig starts,” East told us.

WATCH THE ENTIRE REPORT & INTERVIEW HERE!

Most people know only fragments of his music via samples in hip hop tracks. Now here’s the whole story, told by the man himself: Bob James.

Bob James’s music has informed and inspired some of the most important producers and musicians in the post-disco era, and has been sampled by hip hop and dance producers alike. At the same time his take on fusion has been a constant key presence in the development of jazz since the mid-seventies. And, of course, his studio work with folks like Dionne Warwick, Roberta Flack and Quincy Jones well deserves the legendary status it has with those in the know.

Listen to the chat HERE!

If you have listened to a radio, watched a TV or gone out of your house in the last thirty years, you have heard bassist Nathan East. The Tarzana-based musician has 2000 recording credits that range from Kenny Rogers to Wayne Shorter. That’s East shouting “Put your feet on the ground” during Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose.” That same year he co-wrote the Phil Collins/Phillip Bailey hit “Easy Lover.” His funky bassline drives Daft Punk’s recent hit “Get Lucky” while Whitney Houston’s slow burner “Saving All My Love For You” is lifted by his patient support. Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” and Michael Jackson’s “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” also feature East’s electric bass. But it wasn’t until March of last year that he finally saw his own name on the cover of an album.

“Nathan East” dominated the Billboard Smooth Jazz charts when it was released last March. Friends like Eric Clapton and Michael McDonald made guest appearances while drummer Ricky Lawson contributed to numerous tracks before his untimely passing last winter. The album was recently nominated for a Best Contemporary Instrumental Grammy Award and East has plans for a follow-up as well as a celebration of the 25th anniversary of his co-founding the band Fourplay.

East spoke to Artbound about a few of his more memorable live gigs in and out of the spotlight.

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