This month we're celebrating bass guitar, focusing today on Nathan East, one of the world’s premiere session musicians.
He’s perhaps best known as Eric Clapton’s favorite bass player, but that’s also Nathan on Michael Jackson’s “Bad” and Daft Punk’s 2014 Grammy winning album and song of the year. 
Of course he’s a founding member of the highly successful jazz group Fourplay. Some of his other credits include: Anita Baker, Herbie Hancock, Babyface, B.B. King, George Harrison, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Savage Garden, Sting, Quincy Jones, Al Jarreau, Kenny Loggins, and The Manhattan Transfer.
His debut self-titled album was released in March 2014, with guest appearances by Michael McDonald, Sara Bareilles, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Kazumasa Oda, Bob James, Chuck Loeb, Ray Parker, Jr., David Paich and his son Noah East. This audio interview appears in print form for the first time here on Steemit. It took place during a break on a day when Nathan was rehearsing with Pharrell, Daft Punk, Nile Rodgers, and Stevie Wonder for their appearance on the Grammy Awards-- below is a clip from that rehearsal.
Nathan East with Daft Punk
Interview, part 1 of 2
Alan Bryson: Hi Nathan, first of all I want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with us.
Nathan East: It's a pleasure, thank you.
Alan Bryson: You know we've waited a long time for a Nathan East solo album, and I've gotta tell you, it was worth the wait.
Nathan East: Well thank you, that means a lot. You just do what you do in the studio, and follow the creative process, and you never know how it's going to be received. That's welcome news.
Alan Bryson: I wanted to ask you about how Sara Barelis came to be a guest singer on the album with the song “I Can Let Go Now.”
Nathan East: Actually we've done some shows with her for some Yamaha events. So she was a friend, but the interesting thing is that initially the management said she was not available. But the track I wanted her to do made its way to her, and she called and said she really wanted to sing on that song. So we were happy that we hadn't moved on to anybody else.
Alan Bryson: You know Nathan I thought that was an extraordinarily beautiful vocal performance. So I want to play a bit of that so folks have a chance to hear it.
Nathan East & Sara Bareilles - I Can Let Go Now
Alan Bryson: You've been exposed to so many singers in your career, I was wondering if you could share what it is that makes her so unique?
Nathan East: I think one of the things that makes her unique is that she's a full musician, she doesn't just sing. She plays and writes, and for me that just puts someone up a notch compared to someone who doesn't play. The first thing I noticed about her voice was the clarity, and the song struck a note with her, it's an emotional song. I mean, every time I hear it I'm a puddle of tears. She's an exceptional musician and a star who is still rising.
Alan Bryson: I'm curious, Michael McDonald wrote that song. He is also on the album doing something else, has he had a chance to hear Sarah's version of his song yet?
Nathan East: (Laughs) I don't think he's heard it yet. The day she came to the studio to sing it, he was going to stop by, but something came up and he couldn't come by. But we were all speechless. She went into the vocal booth, and what you're hearing is mostly first take.
Alan Bryson: You did a lot of this album live in the studio without doing it in sections, and that really comes through.
Nathan East: You have all these wonderful musicians who are ready to contribute, and they have great instincts, and a lot of the tracks are first takes. You're on the edge of your seat as it's going down, thinking this is amazing. Total excitement.
Alan Bryson: Another piece of audio I want to share features you playing acoustic stand up bass. This song has a very clever title, it's called “Mood Swings” and it's written by your band mate from the group Fourplay, the great Bob James.
Alan Bryson: I love everything about that, the interaction between you, the playing and the string arrangements, it's just really beautiful.
Nathan East: Thank you, Bob and I have a deep longterm friendship that spans over two decades and we seem to kind of hear time together in a similar way. In a duet situation it's great because you're not influenced by anybody else, so you can stretch the time and kind of go with each other. So with Bob it's a relationship like Bill Evans had with Scott LaFaro.
Alan Bryson: When I think back to the album “Grand Piano Canyon” – wow you guys really go back a long way together.
Nathan East: Right, that was my first time working with Bob and I did realize on that record that it was something very special. We kind of think of that as the first Fourplay because he got us together, Lee Ritenour and Harvey Mason.
Alan Bryson: That album was really like a talisman, it brought a lot music into the future too.
Nathan East: It did. Bob James was one of my favorite artists long before I met him. I was a big big fan.
Alan Bryson: He's tremendous, and I have to admit I love your acoustic bass playing and I hope in the future we'll hear a bit more of that.
Nathan East: We've done two or three songs together as a duet, and we're kind of throwing around the idea of doing an album.
Link to Part 2 of the Interview
Photos are YouTube Screen Captures -- effects by @roused
