Yamaha Entertainment Group has released The New Cool by pianist Bob James and bassist Nathan East. This acoustic duo of James and East offers their fans a new way of listening to their creative efforts aside from their membership in their Grammy Award-winning group called Fourplay. The legendary keyboardist and master bass player perform 11 songs including several of their original compositions as well as a few classics. Singer/songwriter Vince Gill is featured on “Crazy,” while percussionist Rafael Padilla and drummer Scott Williamson appear on “Canto Y La Danza.” Chris Gero, Bob James, Nathan East and Bryan Lenox produced The New Cool.

The New Cool is a celebration of more than 25 years of friendship and musical camaraderie between Nathan East and Bob James. The Grammy Award-winning artists extend the boundaries of their musicality on such songs as “The New Cool,” and “Oliver’s Bag,” both of which are minimalist, bluesy duets to the lushly appointed, beautifully orchestrated “Waltz for Judy” featuring the Nashville Recording Orchestra. The waltz reveals another layer of Bob James’ virtuosity as a pianist and Nathan East’s electric bass guitar wizardry in an orchestral setting. Their rendition of the Latin classic “Canto Y La Danza” features the stellar bass work of Nathan East in several different tempi and the pianism of Bob James at its very best accompanied by Padilla and Williamson.

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‘THE NEW COOL’ is the title of a new collaborative effort between one half of smooth jazz outfit, Fourplay…. pianist BOB
JAMES and bassist NATHAN EAST.

The idea for the album came from Chris Gero, head of the Yamaha Entertainment Group who invited East and James to Nashville to record with state-of-the-art Yamaha instruments. The duo accepted and came up with an audacious 11 tracker that might surprise those who know them chiefly via their work with Fourplay.

The music on ‘The New Cool’ is, well, way cooler… more straight ahead jazz than the smoother sounds that Fourplay are rightly famous for. That fact is evident from the start with the album’s title cut – pastoral piano wanderings engaging with meandering bass lines.

The album is largely a two hander though the strings of the Nashville Recording Orchestra star on several cuts – notably the cinematic ‘All Will Be Revealed’ which also features a touch of East’s celebrated vocalese. Then on the climatic ‘Turbulence’ and the Latino-flavoured ‘Canto Y Danza’ there’s welcome input from percussionist Rafael Padilla and drummer Scott Williamson.

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Keyboardist Bob James and bassist Nathan East will release their first collabotrative outside of the group Fourplay album, The New Cool, Sept. 18 via Yamaha Entertainment Group. 

The recording, recorded in Nashville, was made using Yamaha gear exclusively. Produced by Chris Gero, the album consists of all-new original material and a few covers, including a version of Willie Nelson’s “Crazy” sung by country star Vince Gill. East and James, along with drummer Harvey Mason and guitarist Chuck Loeb, will also release a new Fourplay album later this year.

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It might be the height of summer but one great reason to look ahead into September is ‘The New Cool’ from contemporary jazz icons (and fellow members of super-group Fourplay) Bob James and Nathan East. 

It will be released on September 18, by Yamaha Entertainment Group, and predictably centers on jazz piano and bass duets as the vehicle for a diverse collection of original compositions and handpicked classics.  Recorded entirely in Nashville it reveals James and East in a way that you have never heard them before. 

Take for example the duo’s imaginative take on Willie Nelson’s ‘Crazy’ which carries with it the surprise of a Vince Gill vocal or the Brazilian jazz extravaganza which features percussionist Rafael Padilla and drummer Scott Williamson.
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Masterfully “Cool”: An album unlike any other…
by

Bob James and Nathan East

“The New Cool,” an expansive acoustic offering centered on scholarly jazz piano and bass duets, will be released September 18, a first from the GRAMMY®-honored artists and long-time collaborators. 

 Nashville, Tennessee (7 July 2015): Albums just aren’t made like the way “The New Cool” was made. Yamaha Entertainment Group label president Chris Gero put legendary keyboardist Bob James and master bassist Nathan East in the recording studio, equipped them with state-of-the-art Yamaha gear and gave them free reign to create. Recorded entirely in Nashville, the long-time collaborators emerged with an unexpected and audacious collection of original compositions plus a few handpicked classics, an acoustic jazz outing that will make you forget everything you thought you knew about these GRAMMY®-recognized artists best known as contemporary jazz luminaries. The disc produced by Gero, James and East will be released September 18.
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