Bass Musician Magazine - SPECIAL March 2014 Issue | Page 7

dramatic
solo
debut
album
by Rick Suchow

It’s late January in New York City and we’re
in the middle of the worst winter in two
decades. It’s so bad that weathermen are
using words like “polar vortex” and offering
bone-chilling forecasts of sub-zero wind
chills. But for one night, one brief beautiful
night, on the third floor inside the Yamaha
Piano Salon on Fifth Avenue, I find a reprise
from the icy depression. No thanks to
mother nature of course, but rather the fact
that Nathan East is here and he’s about to
heat up the room with a live performance of
several tunes from his long-awaited debut
solo album. A small crowd is in attendance
to hear Nathan with a 7-piece band that
includes drummer Omar Hakim and
guitarist Oz Noy. I see a handful of friends
and acquaintances in the room of writers,
musicians and publicists. Will Lee is here,
as is my brother-from-another-publisher
Chris Jisi, and other familiar faces, and we’ve
come to witness something special. After
spending the past 30-plus years gracing
everyone else’s project (and in the process
becoming one of the most recorded session
bassists in history), and after two decades as
a quarter of the massively successful group
Fourplay, Nathan East is– for a moment at
least– about to put down his usual role as
supporter-in-chief and will finally take his
first turn as a solo artist.
But more on this in a moment. First, let’s
back up a few days.
MAR 2014 / BASSMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM