Bass Musician Magazine - SPECIAL March 2014 Issue | Page 11

Tom Scott echoed Bob’s sentiment as well.
“He and I have worked together since the
70’s with the late great Victor Feldman,”
says Scott. “Nathan is a truly wonderful
musician. He’s also a charming person–
always greets you with a smile. That’s a
pretty outstanding combination.”
Hey Nathan, how are things going over
there in Japan?
Hey Rick, so far so good! We’re having a
good time rehearsing, getting ready for
Clapton at the Budokan. This is actually
my 66th visit here.

enjoyed rehearsing as much as I did this
week. First of all, it’s just great music,
and then you‘ve got Steve Gadd and Paul
Carrack, it’s just… [Laughs]. It’s pretty
good.
Willie Weeks has done a bunch of the
recent Clapton tours, so for you does it
kind of feel like something new, coming
back with Eric now and going on tour?
Yeah, actually it’s been about ten years
since we toured together. Eric is one
of those guys that likes to try different
sections, like a lot of leaders do, so I was
just glad that he came back to this section.

You certainly have a large fan base there.
Oh man, its incredible. It’s almost like
family.
Japanese people are so passionate about
Jazz and everything that you play, they’re
so knowledgeable about great music.
Well, that’s what I discovered when I came
over here in 1980 or ‘81, I think the first
time I came here was with Lee Ritenour.
They knew all the music, they knew
everything I was playing on, and were very
savvy listeners. Which is great, you know,
because sophisticated music is getting to
them.
How has the week of rehearsals gone with
Eric?
Really well. I told him yesterday I’ve never

You’ve been with Clapton since the mid80’s, so that’s quite a lasting, musical
relationship.
Oh man, we’ve got well over 30 years
together hanging out. Even if we’re not
playing we always get together, if I’m in
London I’ll go by the house and hang out,
or when he’s in LA he comes by and has
dinner with us and the family. He’s like a
brother.
Well listen, I want to congratulate you
again on your Grammy wins.
Oh thanks! The Daft Punk stuff was just
a shocker. You just never know, and I’ve
learned not to