April 25, 2025 • 25 mins
Join @thebuzzknight with the legendary bassist Nathan East. Nathan dives deep into his life and career as one of the most recorded bassists in music history. From his early beginnings playing with icons like Eric Clapton, Phil Collins and Toto, Nathan shares with Buzz the stories behind the music, his creative process and the secrets to his enduring success. Whether you're a musician or a music lover, this conversation offers inspiring insights and unforgettable moments.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I think when we got together, our joke was we
were the modern jazz quartet of the nineties. That was
kind of like our We looked to the modern jazz
quartet as another quartet that we wanted to emulate in
terms of their classic style and sound.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast with your host
Buzz Night, where Buzz talks with musicians that are making
it happen with great performances and productions. Today, Buzz speaks
with Nathan East, a founding member of the chart topping
jazz group for Play. He's been churning out hit songs
with artists like Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Beyonce, Stevie Wonder
(00:42):
and many more, and he'll join Eric Clapton on tour
as well. Nathan East joins Buzz Night now on the
Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Oh, Nathan, it's so nice to have you on Taking
a Walk.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
Hey, it's nice to be here on this walk with you.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
So, since it is called taking a walk, if you
could take a walk with someone living or dead, who
would you take a walk with and where would you
take that walk with him?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I think Jesus Christ down the shures of Tory Pie.
I don't know, there's wow, there's a lot of people,
but yeah, I think Jesus Christ be on first on
my list.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
That would be that would be a significant walk. I
would say, yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
I mean, you know, we we spend uh, we spend
a lot of time here and there's a lot of
a lot of questions and uh without answers.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Might I say amen to that? Sir?
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah? Well, can you share how your musical upbringing really
shaped your career and particularly that moment that you knew
that the bass was going to be your calling?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yeah, I mean speaking of the spirituality and everything that
the bass was was on the altar at Christ the
King Church where my brothers were playing, Raymond and David
were playing at the folk masses they had in San
Diego in the seventies basically, and there was an a
the bass on.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
The altar and I said, does anybody playing it? No?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Nobody knew whose it was, so do you mind if
I pick it up? I picked it up and it
was just that huh, And it was really just felt.
I was fourteen years old and it just felt like
magical in my hands. And then all of a sudden,
I said, man, you could play these notes that that
kind of affect the sound of the chords, and so
they let me. They let me play it, and then
(02:48):
they let me be in the band, and you know,
I had a gig the next day, and that was.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
It, right, you were in all in.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
I was all in, no looking back, and I I
have to full disclosure, I had played cello for three years,
so you know, I was familiar with a bass cleft instrument,
but there was just something very magical about that moment,
and it just I kind of never really looked back
after that.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
And who were some of those bass players early on
that helped shape you?
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Well?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
In the beginning, you know, I was listening to everything,
so you know, we had Charlie Mingus and Ron Carter,
we're big, we're big influences. But then we were playing
music by Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears, so, believe
it or not, Peter Stera and people like Verding White
of Earth Wind and Fire were capturing my attention right away,
(03:50):
you know, and and you know everybody in between, you know,
Paul McCartney of course.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
So you went on the road pretty early in your career,
is that correct?
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Fairly early?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Had a band that I was in called Power played
with a Stax review all the people and one of
the artists was very white, and when he heard our band,
he just hired the entire band on the spot to
go tour with him.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
So I'm sixteen years old and touring and one of
our first stops was Madison Square Garden and we played
the Kennedy Center. We played Kobal Hall in Detroit, and
you know, the Apollo Theater. So all these places that
you know, I had heard about, and next thing you know,
(04:36):
I'm sixteen year old kid and inside of these places playing.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
It was amazing.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
And what did your folks think about all this?
Speaker 4 (04:45):
You know, they were very supportive.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
They were not you know, obviously you know their young
son is going off with the guys, so they just
said be careful, and I think they said a little
prayer and sent me off. My older brother, David, whose
birthday day is actually today.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
I got to call him.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
He was also in the band, so I think they
had the comfort of knowing that he was keeping an
eye on me.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
And was there ever a moment during that first tour
that you were like, She's what did I get myself into?
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I mean it was kind of like you learn really
quickly about a lot of things that have nothing to
do with music basically, but a lot to do with life.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
And it was an invaluable experience.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
And to this day when I go back down those roads,
you know, I just I always go back to those
first early days with Barry White.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
So I want to talk about four Play for a second.
It's been together twenty years.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Actually thirty thirty years. I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Bands are pretty fragile entities, as you well know. What's
the secret to the longevity and the amazing chemistry and
that success, you.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Know, I think just the comraderie in respect. I respected
all of those guys, Harvey Mason, Bob James, Lee, Rittenauer,
Larry Carlton, Chuck Loeb, who was the final guitarist with
the band. But all of those guys, you know, I
used to listen to their albums, played their music and
(06:38):
the bands that I was in, and it was one
of those things where you know, the mutual mutual admiration society.
You know, we were all kind of in awe of
each other. So I think that that helps a lot,
you know, and just we we all you know, respected
each other and had a great time playing making music together.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
There.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Did you realize.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Though, as this time and this band was unfolding, that
this is really, you know, a supergroup.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
You know.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I have to give it to Bob James for sort
of having the vision. We were all together making one
of his records. It's called Grand Piano Canyon. It was
on Warner Brothers and at the time Bob was was
an A and R guy at Warner Brothers Records, so he,
you know, he had the vision and when we were
all these he checked out the chemistry when we were
(07:31):
in the studio and he said, you know what, this
would be a fun band. What do you think you know,
we'd just just make a record. I'm sure we can
get a deal here. And Warners signed us sight unseen.
They hadn't didn't hear anything.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
But we uh, we.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Went in the studio, made that first record, have had
a great time doing it.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
And now, how does you know an entity such as that?
How how does one band member make other band members
better through their particular actions?
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Excellent question.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
I think every one of the guys in the band
had very high standards. And you can just take a
group of notes and each person says how can we
make these notes better, how can we may arrange them,
put some kind of dynamics, And you know, when you
have one of the greatest arrangers like Bob James also
(08:27):
it helps. But we're all in the same mindset of
taking the music to the next level.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
And I think that's what happened.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
And really when the four of us got together, it
just there was some magic chemistry that.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Really lasted all these years.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
And is there an equivalent sort of vibe for a
band such as that or other bands that you continue
to play with, where as a musician you're truly in,
you know, the zone like athletes talk about the zone, right.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
I think when we got together, our joke was was
we were the modern jazz quartet of the nineties. You know,
that was kind of like our We looked to the
modern jazz quartet as a as another quartet that we
wanted to emulate in terms of their classic style and sound.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Not a bad one to go after, exactly. Man oh Man,
So what inspired you to step out ultimately as a
solo artist after you know, all that time as this
amazing you know, session player.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
You know, I was the only one in the band
without a solo album, you know, and so for years
the guys were just saying, Nate, what are you waiting on?
Speaker 4 (09:46):
You know, And obviously a busy session.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Career, you know, where I was just working every day
and twenty almost thirty dates a week, you know, back
in the heyday when the record business was just just
completely alive and well, you know and flourishing, and so
that kept me pretty busy. But around you know, twenty fourteen,
(10:09):
twenty thirteen, I felt like this is a good.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Time and I was signed.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I've been playing Yamaha instruments and they started a record label,
so they signed me and we went in and I
think produced some fun music.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
And how do the great collaborations come together on solo work?
With Stevie Wonder and Sarah Burrells as examples, right.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Well, that's the benefit of having all those years of
working with people. So I had recorded with Stevie, done
a lot of records with him, and the song Overjoyed
that I ended up recording. I was fooling around at
Carnegie Hall at a sound check. We were doing a
gig with Staying and one of those Rainforest benefits that
(11:03):
had a lot of artists on it. George Harrison, Bonnie Ray,
James Taylor, and Stevie Wonder was on there, and on
a break, I started fooling around with the chord changes
of Overjoyed, just kind of playing it as a bass melody.
And next thing I know, I hear harmonica come in.
Then like all of a sudden, Stevie's playing harmonica with
(11:23):
me on his song, the melody, you know. And then
next thing you know, you could hear a pin drop,
And here I am trying to figure out the chord changes.
He's playing along and staying and James Taylor, they're all
just listening Elton John and so after we finished, then
they all applauded, and Stevie came over and said, if
you ever record that.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Song, I want to. I want to play on it.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
So I went to record it, called him, and he
came in and played on it.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
It's amazing. No, Stevie, you can't.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
No, that's okay. I've got somebody else in mind. But
thanks for asking. Yeah, right, my god, I don't believe
you have been around and are still around so many
forces of nature. And just to go back on Stevie
for a second, I mean, I'm continually wowed by him
(12:14):
every time I see him do something to this day,
you would have to agree with me on that one, you.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Know, just as a.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Matter of fact, when I think about when I think
about the amount of music that has come out of
him already and then the mouth that's.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Still in him.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Matter of fact, one of the last times I saw him,
he said, I got a few songs I want you
to play on my next album, you know. So it's
like I'm going wow. And he's been such a part
of the music culture, you know, for for decades. It's like,
I don't know where we'd be without Stevie, you know.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
It's it's it's.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Really mind blowing when you think about how much music
he's contributed to the world and still continues to.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Oh and just seems to be having the time of
his life when he's creating as well.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Yeah, Like he.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Never stops and he always has either the rpeggy or
is buying the piano, and and he.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Just never stops creating.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
And I think it's like the essence of of of
what God meant for people to do, especially in our business.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Well, so many of the people that you have intersected
with or are still intersecting with you know, have their
own tremendous stories to tell. Certainly you did work with
with Michael Jackson. That must have been an incredible privilege. Absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
He he was just another one, almost not of this earth,
you know, And it would be amazing to pull up
West Lake Studios, where we spend a lot of time recording,
and to pull be in the parking lot and then
you know, black Mercedes with tark windows pulls up and
then outsteps a guy in the red leather looks like
he just finished a video, you know, and there's Michael
(14:10):
with the shades. And then you just go in the
studio and you're laughing, telling jokes, and it's it's just
like another day at the office.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
It's it's pretty pretty remarkable.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
And you're going to be out on tour again with
Eric Clapton. That must be an incredible experience. Just tell us,
you know, give us a behind the scenes look at
that as well.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Well.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Again, well, first of all, he's he's approaching his eightieth
birthday this month, so that in and of itself is amazing.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
He still plays like he's.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Like he's twenty, you know, and we're on the way
to Tokyo to perform at the Tokyo Budu Khan eight
concerts there in April, and again it's a lot of fun,
a lot of a lot of just laughing and and
camaraderie goes on on and off the stage when we're together.
You know, we all love going out for a good meal,
(15:09):
a good joke, you know, and just and a good time.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
So what is your approach creatively to creating baselines for
diverse genres? Do you have a specific process or philosophy
that you go by.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Yeah, I mean, first of all, there's there's been so
many incredible baselines, you know, that we have to draw
from in the past, and so that that always made
me think that a baseline has to be something memorable,
and regardless of how simple or complex it is, it
should just be something memorable and some notes that go
(15:50):
to the heart, you know. So whenever I'm playing to
this day, I'm constantly thinking about what what are the
rare notes, what what's a really good note to choose
to play in this bar? And what's in this bar
of music, you know, and then what registers are going
to be?
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Should I start high? Should I play down low?
Speaker 2 (16:09):
And there's all these things that are going through my
head constantly, you know, to this day when I'm trying
to come up with a baseline.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
So it's a fair amount of at least experimentation at
a certain point.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Right, always analyzing, always trying to figure out what the
song needs. We were just in a bottom playing some
shows there, and we had a stage full of like
thirteen people, you know, artists and singing and horns and
rhythm and so in that particular moment, you know, there
(16:43):
were enough people on stage and I just felt like
just a lot of long, low notes, you know, and
very simple approach and just kind of do a bottom
for everybody to kind of be the foundation for all
the artists. And that you know, again, I'm always trying
to figure out what's the best thing it Does it
(17:03):
need more? Does it need less dynamics? And just try
to find find the good notes.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Find those good notes. You're finding those good notes every time.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
I gotta tell you, Well.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
I know you mentioned earlier that before you, you know,
took up the bass, you had played the cello. If
you weren't playing bass, though, what do you think you'd
be playing other than the cello?
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I mean, when I first started, I thought, you iced
to hear those Vince GERALDI Charlie Brown specials, And I thought,
you know, I want to do that, you know, And
so I would love to play piano.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Now.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
My son Noah, he covers the piano very well, and
we've we've just finished a dulo album that will be
released here soon. But you know, the piano. And if
I wasn't in music at all, I think i'd be
the flying airplanes. I'm a private pilot and I really
enjoy that as well. And it's another one of those
(18:05):
things that you know you could do for a living,
and then it doesn't feel quite like it like it's working.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
As a pilot.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Is there a certain sense of spirituality when you're really,
you know, up there in that space and time.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
I used to always say it's getting a little closer
to God when I get up here above the clouds,
and and yeah, there's.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
Something for me.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
The spirit of it is is your every time you
take off and land safely, you've you've basically.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
Added years to you to your life. You know.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
It's it's it's one of those things where you have
to pay attention and and there's there's not too much
else that can be on your mind while you're piloting
an airplane, and so those are the those are the
things I always feel and say a prayer of gratitude
every time I land safely.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Is there any particular discipline as a pilot that you've
taken and applied to your musical disciplines?
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Well, the fact that you know anything that you would
want to get better at, the repetition of it and
the practice of it is I think one of those
things that becomes essential, whether it's flying a plane.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
Playing the bass or violin or anything.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
So I think, you know, basketball players they shoot a
thousand free throws a day or something like that, you know,
a million a year, And so I think you just.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
Get better.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
At anything you do, and so I try to I
try to keep that in mind. I mean, I wish
I had more hours in the day to practice, because
I'd be a lot better player.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
And on the spirituality note, we produced this other podcast.
It's called Music Save Me. It's about the therapeutic or
healing powers of music. Do you personally believe that that
music has healing powers?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Absolutely? One hundred percent. I think you know, I've always
looked at music as the language of God. You know,
when I'm playing sometimes if you really go deep into
a trance or the flow or whatever you want to
call it, it really comes from somewhere else. And the
(20:39):
recently we were doing some gigs together and people actually
came to me after the gigs that I was suffering
with a little bit of depression and this helped me
out tonight, you know. And I think there's been studies
and I think it's proven that music is definitely has
a way to have healing powers that but you can't
(21:01):
really put your finger on because it's you can't touch it,
smell it, but it goes, it touches you, you know,
it goes inside of of of your system, and it's
really something very powerful, very special that I don't take
for granted, and I'm always appreciative that I get to
(21:21):
I get to be part of that language.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
And describe the feeling when you know in a performance
setting that the music you and the rest of the
musicians that you're with is deeply connecting with an audience.
What is that feeling like?
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yeah, I mean, there's there's nothing really like it that
you're you're you're seeing the power of the vibration that's
going out actually coming back to you, you know, so
everybody's everybody's heads.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
And you know, I look out and people.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Are moving and you see smiles and these are the
things that just I often equate it to a congregation
as well, you know, and they come to hear something
inspirational and then go out and spread the word about it.
And so it's really great when when you see that
they're enjoying it as much as you're enjoying playing it.
(22:16):
And there's no feeling.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Quite like that someone who you spend a bit of
time with on the road is no longer to be
able to be on the road in Phil Collins, can
you talk about your experiences of playing with Phil.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Yeah, well Phil as a bass player, you know, because
the drummer in the band is sort of like we're
married to you know, we have to bond and lock
to make the music, you know, grow from the bottom up.
And the first time I ever played with Phil, and
it was about forty years ago, a little over forty
(22:55):
years ago, when we were in London recording the Chinese
Wall album with Philip Bailey, and I just loved his
groove and where he put the beat from the minute
we started playing together and it was just a lovely thing.
You know, he's he's got his own style, he's left handed,
and I just I just really enjoyed every every time
(23:18):
we had a chance to play together.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
And so you know, we on the lot of laughs.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Another situation where just one of the finest human beings
you ever.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Want to meet, and a lot of laughs.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
He used to come pick me and fill up up
from the hotel out in the country, out in Guildford.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
And we ride into London.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
It was about an hour ride and so every day
just getting to spend that kind of time with him
and then playing together, writing together, just nothing but good.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Positive vibes from the whole situation.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Well, Nathan, in closing, you played with you know a
who's who, and you continue to play with the Who's who?
Is anybody you might want to give us a little
glimpse of that is on your dream list to play with.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Yeah, you know Prince was on that list, So I
won't be able to pull that one. But I'm the
biggest Pat Metheni fan, you know, and we've threatened to
do something a few times, and of course he's he's busy.
I'm busy, but we've when we see each other sometimes
we you know, we just okay, it's gonna happen one.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
Of these days, and I'm holding out for that.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
Well, we had him on this podcast, and that was
hard to nail him.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Just like it's hard to nail you.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
He's always working, You're always working. But fingers crossed on
that one, because that would be a pretty amazing collaboration,
right it would be.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
But yeah, yeah, absolutely no, It's everything in its time.
But but I absolutely love his music and and and
and also his humanity.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
And I think it be great. Nathan.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Thank you for the time for the music, the beautiful music,
and what it does for us is words can't describe.
It's so critical, and I'm so grateful that you took
the time to be on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Thanks much, appreciate it and enjoyed my walk.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I think when we got together, our joke was we
were the modern jazz quartet of the nineties. That was
kind of like our We looked to the modern jazz
quartet as another quartet that we wanted to emulate in
terms of their classic style and sound.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast with your host
Buzz Night, where Buzz talks with musicians that are making
it happen with great performances and productions. Today, Buzz speaks
with Nathan East, a founding member of the chart topping
jazz group for Play. He's been churning out hit songs
with artists like Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Beyonce, Stevie Wonder
(00:42):
and many more, and he'll join Eric Clapton on tour
as well. Nathan East joins Buzz Night now on the
Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Oh, Nathan, it's so nice to have you on Taking
a Walk.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
Hey, it's nice to be here on this walk with you.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
So, since it is called taking a walk, if you
could take a walk with someone living or dead, who
would you take a walk with and where would you
take that walk with him?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I think Jesus Christ down the shures of Tory Pie.
I don't know, there's wow, there's a lot of people,
but yeah, I think Jesus Christ be on first on
my list.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
That would be that would be a significant walk. I
would say, yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
I mean, you know, we we spend uh, we spend
a lot of time here and there's a lot of
a lot of questions and uh without answers.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Might I say amen to that? Sir?
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah? Well, can you share how your musical upbringing really
shaped your career and particularly that moment that you knew
that the bass was going to be your calling?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yeah, I mean speaking of the spirituality and everything that
the bass was was on the altar at Christ the
King Church where my brothers were playing, Raymond and David
were playing at the folk masses they had in San
Diego in the seventies basically, and there was an a
the bass on.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
The altar and I said, does anybody playing it? No?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Nobody knew whose it was, so do you mind if
I pick it up? I picked it up and it
was just that huh, And it was really just felt.
I was fourteen years old and it just felt like
magical in my hands. And then all of a sudden,
I said, man, you could play these notes that that
kind of affect the sound of the chords, and so
they let me. They let me play it, and then
(02:48):
they let me be in the band, and you know,
I had a gig the next day, and that was.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
It, right, you were in all in.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
I was all in, no looking back, and I I
have to full disclosure, I had played cello for three years,
so you know, I was familiar with a bass cleft instrument,
but there was just something very magical about that moment,
and it just I kind of never really looked back
after that.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
And who were some of those bass players early on
that helped shape you?
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Well?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
In the beginning, you know, I was listening to everything,
so you know, we had Charlie Mingus and Ron Carter,
we're big, we're big influences. But then we were playing
music by Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears, so, believe
it or not, Peter Stera and people like Verding White
of Earth Wind and Fire were capturing my attention right away,
(03:50):
you know, and and you know everybody in between, you know,
Paul McCartney of course.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
So you went on the road pretty early in your career,
is that correct?
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Fairly early?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Had a band that I was in called Power played
with a Stax review all the people and one of
the artists was very white, and when he heard our band,
he just hired the entire band on the spot to
go tour with him.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
So I'm sixteen years old and touring and one of
our first stops was Madison Square Garden and we played
the Kennedy Center. We played Kobal Hall in Detroit, and
you know, the Apollo Theater. So all these places that
you know, I had heard about, and next thing you know,
(04:36):
I'm sixteen year old kid and inside of these places playing.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
It was amazing.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
And what did your folks think about all this?
Speaker 4 (04:45):
You know, they were very supportive.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
They were not you know, obviously you know their young
son is going off with the guys, so they just
said be careful, and I think they said a little
prayer and sent me off. My older brother, David, whose
birthday day is actually today.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
I got to call him.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
He was also in the band, so I think they
had the comfort of knowing that he was keeping an
eye on me.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
And was there ever a moment during that first tour
that you were like, She's what did I get myself into?
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I mean it was kind of like you learn really
quickly about a lot of things that have nothing to
do with music basically, but a lot to do with life.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
And it was an invaluable experience.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
And to this day when I go back down those roads,
you know, I just I always go back to those
first early days with Barry White.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
So I want to talk about four Play for a second.
It's been together twenty years.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Actually thirty thirty years. I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Bands are pretty fragile entities, as you well know. What's
the secret to the longevity and the amazing chemistry and
that success, you.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Know, I think just the comraderie in respect. I respected
all of those guys, Harvey Mason, Bob James, Lee, Rittenauer,
Larry Carlton, Chuck Loeb, who was the final guitarist with
the band. But all of those guys, you know, I
used to listen to their albums, played their music and
(06:38):
the bands that I was in, and it was one
of those things where you know, the mutual mutual admiration society.
You know, we were all kind of in awe of
each other. So I think that that helps a lot,
you know, and just we we all you know, respected
each other and had a great time playing making music together.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
There.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Did you realize.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Though, as this time and this band was unfolding, that
this is really, you know, a supergroup.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
You know.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I have to give it to Bob James for sort
of having the vision. We were all together making one
of his records. It's called Grand Piano Canyon. It was
on Warner Brothers and at the time Bob was was
an A and R guy at Warner Brothers Records, so he,
you know, he had the vision and when we were
all these he checked out the chemistry when we were
(07:31):
in the studio and he said, you know what, this
would be a fun band. What do you think you know,
we'd just just make a record. I'm sure we can
get a deal here. And Warners signed us sight unseen.
They hadn't didn't hear anything.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
But we uh, we.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Went in the studio, made that first record, have had
a great time doing it.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
And now, how does you know an entity such as that?
How how does one band member make other band members
better through their particular actions?
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Excellent question.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
I think every one of the guys in the band
had very high standards. And you can just take a
group of notes and each person says how can we
make these notes better, how can we may arrange them,
put some kind of dynamics, And you know, when you
have one of the greatest arrangers like Bob James also
(08:27):
it helps. But we're all in the same mindset of
taking the music to the next level.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
And I think that's what happened.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
And really when the four of us got together, it
just there was some magic chemistry that.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Really lasted all these years.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
And is there an equivalent sort of vibe for a
band such as that or other bands that you continue
to play with, where as a musician you're truly in,
you know, the zone like athletes talk about the zone, right.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
I think when we got together, our joke was was
we were the modern jazz quartet of the nineties. You know,
that was kind of like our We looked to the
modern jazz quartet as a as another quartet that we
wanted to emulate in terms of their classic style and sound.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Not a bad one to go after, exactly. Man oh Man,
So what inspired you to step out ultimately as a
solo artist after you know, all that time as this
amazing you know, session player.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
You know, I was the only one in the band
without a solo album, you know, and so for years
the guys were just saying, Nate, what are you waiting on?
Speaker 4 (09:46):
You know, And obviously a busy session.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Career, you know, where I was just working every day
and twenty almost thirty dates a week, you know, back
in the heyday when the record business was just just
completely alive and well, you know and flourishing, and so
that kept me pretty busy. But around you know, twenty fourteen,
(10:09):
twenty thirteen, I felt like this is a good.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Time and I was signed.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I've been playing Yamaha instruments and they started a record label,
so they signed me and we went in and I
think produced some fun music.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
And how do the great collaborations come together on solo work?
With Stevie Wonder and Sarah Burrells as examples, right.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Well, that's the benefit of having all those years of
working with people. So I had recorded with Stevie, done
a lot of records with him, and the song Overjoyed
that I ended up recording. I was fooling around at
Carnegie Hall at a sound check. We were doing a
gig with Staying and one of those Rainforest benefits that
(11:03):
had a lot of artists on it. George Harrison, Bonnie Ray,
James Taylor, and Stevie Wonder was on there, and on
a break, I started fooling around with the chord changes
of Overjoyed, just kind of playing it as a bass melody.
And next thing I know, I hear harmonica come in.
Then like all of a sudden, Stevie's playing harmonica with
(11:23):
me on his song, the melody, you know. And then
next thing you know, you could hear a pin drop,
And here I am trying to figure out the chord changes.
He's playing along and staying and James Taylor, they're all
just listening Elton John and so after we finished, then
they all applauded, and Stevie came over and said, if
you ever record that.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Song, I want to. I want to play on it.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
So I went to record it, called him, and he
came in and played on it.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
It's amazing. No, Stevie, you can't.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
No, that's okay. I've got somebody else in mind. But
thanks for asking. Yeah, right, my god, I don't believe
you have been around and are still around so many
forces of nature. And just to go back on Stevie
for a second, I mean, I'm continually wowed by him
(12:14):
every time I see him do something to this day,
you would have to agree with me on that one, you.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Know, just as a.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Matter of fact, when I think about when I think
about the amount of music that has come out of
him already and then the mouth that's.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Still in him.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Matter of fact, one of the last times I saw him,
he said, I got a few songs I want you
to play on my next album, you know. So it's
like I'm going wow. And he's been such a part
of the music culture, you know, for for decades. It's like,
I don't know where we'd be without Stevie, you know.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
It's it's it's.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Really mind blowing when you think about how much music
he's contributed to the world and still continues to.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Oh and just seems to be having the time of
his life when he's creating as well.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Yeah, Like he.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Never stops and he always has either the rpeggy or
is buying the piano, and and he.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Just never stops creating.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
And I think it's like the essence of of of
what God meant for people to do, especially in our business.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Well, so many of the people that you have intersected
with or are still intersecting with you know, have their
own tremendous stories to tell. Certainly you did work with
with Michael Jackson. That must have been an incredible privilege. Absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
He he was just another one, almost not of this earth,
you know, And it would be amazing to pull up
West Lake Studios, where we spend a lot of time recording,
and to pull be in the parking lot and then
you know, black Mercedes with tark windows pulls up and
then outsteps a guy in the red leather looks like
he just finished a video, you know, and there's Michael
(14:10):
with the shades. And then you just go in the
studio and you're laughing, telling jokes, and it's it's just
like another day at the office.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
It's it's pretty pretty remarkable.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
And you're going to be out on tour again with
Eric Clapton. That must be an incredible experience. Just tell us,
you know, give us a behind the scenes look at
that as well.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Well.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Again, well, first of all, he's he's approaching his eightieth
birthday this month, so that in and of itself is amazing.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
He still plays like he's.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Like he's twenty, you know, and we're on the way
to Tokyo to perform at the Tokyo Budu Khan eight
concerts there in April, and again it's a lot of fun,
a lot of a lot of just laughing and and
camaraderie goes on on and off the stage when we're together.
You know, we all love going out for a good meal,
(15:09):
a good joke, you know, and just and a good time.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
So what is your approach creatively to creating baselines for
diverse genres? Do you have a specific process or philosophy
that you go by.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Yeah, I mean, first of all, there's there's been so
many incredible baselines, you know, that we have to draw
from in the past, and so that that always made
me think that a baseline has to be something memorable,
and regardless of how simple or complex it is, it
should just be something memorable and some notes that go
(15:50):
to the heart, you know. So whenever I'm playing to
this day, I'm constantly thinking about what what are the
rare notes, what what's a really good note to choose
to play in this bar? And what's in this bar
of music, you know, and then what registers are going
to be?
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Should I start high? Should I play down low?
Speaker 2 (16:09):
And there's all these things that are going through my
head constantly, you know, to this day when I'm trying
to come up with a baseline.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
So it's a fair amount of at least experimentation at
a certain point.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Right, always analyzing, always trying to figure out what the
song needs. We were just in a bottom playing some
shows there, and we had a stage full of like
thirteen people, you know, artists and singing and horns and
rhythm and so in that particular moment, you know, there
(16:43):
were enough people on stage and I just felt like
just a lot of long, low notes, you know, and
very simple approach and just kind of do a bottom
for everybody to kind of be the foundation for all
the artists. And that you know, again, I'm always trying
to figure out what's the best thing it Does it
(17:03):
need more? Does it need less dynamics? And just try
to find find the good notes.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Find those good notes. You're finding those good notes every time.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
I gotta tell you, Well.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
I know you mentioned earlier that before you, you know,
took up the bass, you had played the cello. If
you weren't playing bass, though, what do you think you'd
be playing other than the cello?
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I mean, when I first started, I thought, you iced
to hear those Vince GERALDI Charlie Brown specials, And I thought,
you know, I want to do that, you know, And
so I would love to play piano.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Now.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
My son Noah, he covers the piano very well, and
we've we've just finished a dulo album that will be
released here soon. But you know, the piano. And if
I wasn't in music at all, I think i'd be
the flying airplanes. I'm a private pilot and I really
enjoy that as well. And it's another one of those
(18:05):
things that you know you could do for a living,
and then it doesn't feel quite like it like it's working.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
As a pilot.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Is there a certain sense of spirituality when you're really,
you know, up there in that space and time.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
I used to always say it's getting a little closer
to God when I get up here above the clouds,
and and yeah, there's.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
Something for me.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
The spirit of it is is your every time you
take off and land safely, you've you've basically.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
Added years to you to your life. You know.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
It's it's it's one of those things where you have
to pay attention and and there's there's not too much
else that can be on your mind while you're piloting
an airplane, and so those are the those are the
things I always feel and say a prayer of gratitude
every time I land safely.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Is there any particular discipline as a pilot that you've
taken and applied to your musical disciplines?
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Well, the fact that you know anything that you would
want to get better at, the repetition of it and
the practice of it is I think one of those
things that becomes essential, whether it's flying a plane.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
Playing the bass or violin or anything.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
So I think, you know, basketball players they shoot a
thousand free throws a day or something like that, you know,
a million a year, And so I think you just.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
Get better.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
At anything you do, and so I try to I
try to keep that in mind. I mean, I wish
I had more hours in the day to practice, because
I'd be a lot better player.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
And on the spirituality note, we produced this other podcast.
It's called Music Save Me. It's about the therapeutic or
healing powers of music. Do you personally believe that that
music has healing powers?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Absolutely? One hundred percent. I think you know, I've always
looked at music as the language of God. You know,
when I'm playing sometimes if you really go deep into
a trance or the flow or whatever you want to
call it, it really comes from somewhere else. And the
(20:39):
recently we were doing some gigs together and people actually
came to me after the gigs that I was suffering
with a little bit of depression and this helped me
out tonight, you know. And I think there's been studies
and I think it's proven that music is definitely has
a way to have healing powers that but you can't
(21:01):
really put your finger on because it's you can't touch it,
smell it, but it goes, it touches you, you know,
it goes inside of of of your system, and it's
really something very powerful, very special that I don't take
for granted, and I'm always appreciative that I get to
(21:21):
I get to be part of that language.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
And describe the feeling when you know in a performance
setting that the music you and the rest of the
musicians that you're with is deeply connecting with an audience.
What is that feeling like?
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yeah, I mean, there's there's nothing really like it that
you're you're you're seeing the power of the vibration that's
going out actually coming back to you, you know, so
everybody's everybody's heads.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
And you know, I look out and people.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Are moving and you see smiles and these are the
things that just I often equate it to a congregation
as well, you know, and they come to hear something
inspirational and then go out and spread the word about it.
And so it's really great when when you see that
they're enjoying it as much as you're enjoying playing it.
(22:16):
And there's no feeling.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Quite like that someone who you spend a bit of
time with on the road is no longer to be
able to be on the road in Phil Collins, can
you talk about your experiences of playing with Phil.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Yeah, well Phil as a bass player, you know, because
the drummer in the band is sort of like we're
married to you know, we have to bond and lock
to make the music, you know, grow from the bottom up.
And the first time I ever played with Phil, and
it was about forty years ago, a little over forty
(22:55):
years ago, when we were in London recording the Chinese
Wall album with Philip Bailey, and I just loved his
groove and where he put the beat from the minute
we started playing together and it was just a lovely thing.
You know, he's he's got his own style, he's left handed,
and I just I just really enjoyed every every time
(23:18):
we had a chance to play together.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
And so you know, we on the lot of laughs.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Another situation where just one of the finest human beings
you ever.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Want to meet, and a lot of laughs.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
He used to come pick me and fill up up
from the hotel out in the country, out in Guildford.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
And we ride into London.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
It was about an hour ride and so every day
just getting to spend that kind of time with him
and then playing together, writing together, just nothing but good.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Positive vibes from the whole situation.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Well, Nathan, in closing, you played with you know a
who's who, and you continue to play with the Who's who?
Is anybody you might want to give us a little
glimpse of that is on your dream list to play with.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Yeah, you know Prince was on that list, So I
won't be able to pull that one. But I'm the
biggest Pat Metheni fan, you know, and we've threatened to
do something a few times, and of course he's he's busy.
I'm busy, but we've when we see each other sometimes
we you know, we just okay, it's gonna happen one.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
Of these days, and I'm holding out for that.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
Well, we had him on this podcast, and that was
hard to nail him.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Just like it's hard to nail you.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
He's always working, You're always working. But fingers crossed on
that one, because that would be a pretty amazing collaboration,
right it would be.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
But yeah, yeah, absolutely no, It's everything in its time.
But but I absolutely love his music and and and
and also his humanity.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
And I think it be great. Nathan.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Thank you for the time for the music, the beautiful music,
and what it does for us is words can't describe.
It's so critical, and I'm so grateful that you took
the time to be on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Thanks much, appreciate it and enjoyed my walk.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
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