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.

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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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About one hour into the fascinating, just-released documentary Nathan East: For The Record, there is a quick scene of the bassist sitting on a sofa, quietly perusing his old calendar books from the mid-nineties. “I love keeping these around,” he says as he scans his life-at-a-glance in the little black journals. “It’s like a time capsule and I can go back and see what I was doing.” The entire scene lasts no more than forty seconds, but it is a moment in the film that seems to perfectly capture Nathan’s life and career. As the camera gently pans across and zooms in on the open pages, we see his clean meticulous handwriting, his attention to detail. The names of music stars and legends scatter across the calendar days that are filled with sessions to make and gigs to play, reading almost like a pop music history book. The man is in demand by the very best in the business. But an even closer look also reveals his self-reminders about those who aren’t the stars, written with as much care. Mom’s operation @ Sharp Memorial, right knee is inked in on the 4^th, just above Herbie Hancock at Pyramid Studio on the 11^th and Natalie Cole and George Duke at Ocean Way on the 18^th. He has Mom and Dad’s anniversary on the 28th, the same day as a 9-hour Phil Collins big-band rehearsal in France, one box down from a session for the Escape From LA soundtrack. A flip of the page, more of the same. Sting, Elton, James Taylor, Don Henley. Aunt Doris and Uncle James. Birthday reminders about friends and relatives.

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Bassist Nathan East and engineer Ed Cherney will be inducted into the NAMMTEC Awards Hall of Fame by the NAMM Foundation. The induction will take place during the 30th Annual NAMM Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards show on Saturday, January 24th in Anaheim, California.

Nominees across thirty creative and technical categories have also been announced for the NAMM TEC Awards. The TEC Awards are the longest-running awards show that specifically recognizes outstanding achievement in audio product innovation and sound production.

East has worked with some of the best in the industry that includes Daft Punk, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Beyoncé, Phil Collins, Michael Jackson, Barry White, Anita Baker, Forplay and Andrea Bocelli. East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music with more than 2,000 recordings. East played bass on Eric Clapton’s multi-Grammy award winning Unplugged album, as well as playing bass on the Daft Punk’s Grammy winning album “Random Access Memories” and in 2014 released his debut album as a solo artist to worldwide acclaim. 
He has a B.A. in Music Performance from University of California San Diego, and as an educator has been teaching how to play bass guitar for decades.

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Featuring Lionel Richie, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins & more, the film debuts in December.

While bassist Nathan East was recording his first solo album last November, a making-of documentary was also part of the mix. But little did East know he would end up starring in a full-blown film that also chronicles his career from a wide-eyed 16-year-old touring with Barry White‘s Love Unlimited Orchestra to Grammy Award-winning session player for Daft Punk, Beyoncé, Barbra Streisand, Eric Clapton and more.

Aptly titled For the Record, the documentary premieres on Hulu in December.

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Wishing a Happy Birthday to Nathan..

Here’s to another great year!

Chances are, you spent your whole life listening to Nathan East.  

You just never knew it…until now!

For more information, visit Yamaha Entertainment Group: Nathan East.

Check scenes from Nathan East’s recent performance at Osaka, Japan’s Billboard Live, below!

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