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b"A founding member of the chart-topping contemporary jazz group Fourplay, East was 16 years old when he got his first break and found himself on the road with Barry White. The next time the phone rang, Quincy Jones was on the line. The calls kept coming and for the last forty years, East has been churning out hit songs with artists as legendary as Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, Whitney Houston, Beyonc\\xe9, Barbra Streisand and Stevie Wonder.\\xa0
His genre-crossing groove has earned him both the recognition \\u2013 a Congressional Record for his contributions to the worldwide music community, for one \\u2013 and the boundary-busting respect of his peers, illustrated by his current appearances on two hit records as diverse as Andrea Bocelli\\u2019s Passione and Daft Punk\\u2019s Random Access Memories. Suffice it to say, it\\u2019s been a busy four decades. \\u201cThere are only so many hours in the day,\\u201d East concedes. \\u201cBut for years, friends have encouraged me to record a solo album. Some for so long they\\u2019d given up. However the best music that I\\u2019ve made over the years has always been a collaboration with my friends, so I decided it was time to take the plunge.\\u201d
Communing with friends is a theme for East, so it was only natural that he team up with Yamaha Entertainment Group, with whom he has had a personal and professional relationship for over 30 years.\\u201cThey have an undeniable world-wide presence, so when Chris Gero started this label and shared his vision, I was in from the first ask.\\u201d Less obvious to East, was how to approach stepping out as a lead artist. \\u201cI always felt, especially as a bassist, that a solo album was a very difficult thing to try to come up with. I\\u2019m used to a more supportive role playing as a sideman, which is why it\\u2019s taken me this long to actually get my head around what kind of record to make.\\u201d
But the uncertainty stopped there. \\u201cChris said, \\u2018I don\\u2019t want to just make an album that you\\u2019d predict you would make. I want you to come away from it with that feeling of \\u2018What just happened?!\\u2019 He has all these ideas going on and he\\u2019s hearing symphonies in his head. It\\u2019s like Quincy Jones, where he has a knack of putting ideas and people together. Chris comes with an exceptional production value and wants everything to be epic, so we\\u2019re trying to bring that spirit to this record.\\u201d And spirited it is. Joined by a veritable who\\u2019s who of fellow musicians and vocalists, East immersed himself in the studio experience. \\u201cThe thing I love most about the recording process is that you never know exactly what\\u2019s going to happen. I always leave room for that element of surprise because so often it\\u2019s what you didn\\u2019t plan on that turns into the focal point \\u2013 that magical moment \\u2013 on the record.\\u201d
One such moment is the triumphant re-imagining of Pat Metheny\\u2019s \\u201cLetter From Home,\\u201d where soaring orchestration contrasts poignantly with the track\\u2019s pensive mood. It\\u2019s exactly the kind of narrative in which East gravitates. \\u201cI tend to lean towards passionate ballads and I\\u2019ve asked Michael McDonald, one of my favorite singers, to join us on this record. There\\u2019s just so much emotion and heart in his music.\\u201d Destined to capture every heart is East\\u2019s duet on \\u201cYesterday\\u201d with his 13-year old son Noah, who plays the piano. \\u201cNoah came to the studio, put the headphones on and the sound was so beautiful his face just lit up! It\\u2019s surreal to play with your son. You are changing his diapers one minute and the next thing, you\\u2019re making music with this person.\\u201d
East keeps it in the family with one of four co-written songs on the album, \\u201c101 Eastbound,\\u201d a tune penned along with brother Marcel East. Originally released over 20 years ago on Fourplay\\u2019s debut album and newly imbued with an exotic flair, the track captures the vitality of East\\u2019s diverse range. Glowing with meticulous attention to detail, East tackles the anthemic \\u201cAmerica the Beautiful\\u201d with a ferocity befitting its title. \\u201cI travel around the world visiting many different countries but I must say, I always look forward to coming home.\\u201d East continues, \\u201cI kiss the ground because even on a rainy day, America is still so beautiful.\\u201d
One thing is certain \\u2013 the world is listening to Nathan East. \\u201cNow that I have an association with \\u2018Get Lucky,\\u2019 a song that has been played around the world, we thought it would be fun to celebrate that part of my playing on the record. Why not keep the party going?! So Michael Thompson wrote a fun song in the spirit of that music and we called it \\u2018Daft Funk.'\\u201d And in the spirit of Nathan East, the album is energized with relentless generosity as he leads \\u2013 and cedes \\u2013 the way for his friends and fellow musicians to shine. As a result, \\u201cYou can tell a difference in the way the music feels,\\u201d East explains. \\u201cThey\\u2019re calling it a solo album, but I consider it everybody\\u2019s record.\\u201d
East admits, he\\u2019s been blessed with a gift. And it\\u2019s one that we\\u2019ll gladly accept."