Nathan East

Nathan East has been active since the late '70s as one of the most prominent bassists in R&B, jazz, and pop. Born one of the seven children of Thomas and Gwendolyn East in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, East and his family moved to San Diego, California, when he was four years old to accommodate his father's aerodynamics engineering job. As a child, East pecked out familiar melodies on the family piano. He began playing the cello in his junior high school orchestra. At the age of 14, East switched to bass guitar, inspired by his older brother David's mastery of the instrument. He...