Bass Musician Magazine - SPECIAL March 2014 Issue

The Sunday before this Manhattan showcase, an interesting thing happened in Nate’s life. As a member of the latest incarnation of Daft Punk, he performed live with the French electro-pop robots at the Grammy Awards, where they were on hand with five nominations for their latest album Random Access Memories and the breakout hit “Get Lucky“. The live group, aided by special guest Stevie Wonder, featured much of the group that actually recorded the retro-sounding record. Before the night was over, Daft Punk– along with Nathan, Hakim, Nile Rodgers, Pharrell Williams and Paul Jackson Jr.– scored wins in every category they were nominated for: album of the year, best dance/electronica album, best engineered album, best pop duo/group performance, and song of the year for “Get Lucky”, which features Nathan’s perfect, propelling, inthe-pocket groove. Without him, the song might have been a great dance tune; with him it’s become a bonafide classic, topping the charts in over a hundred countries. So back to the NYC event where, from the time I was invited to this performance and tonight, Nathan has become five Grammys richer and is now the hottest bassist on the globe. Wielding his white Yamaha TRB 6-string bass, he kills on a four-song preview of his upcoming album, which includes a beautiful interpretation of Pat Metheny‘s introspective “Letter From Home” (Nathan announces that Pat is one of his favorite writers), a groove-heavy Daft Punk-meets-Michael Jackson’s “Off the MAR 2014 / BASSMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM Wall” original titled “Daft Funk”, a brilliant instrumental reading of Stevie Wonder‘s “Sir Duke”, and a stirring vocal cover of Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home”, which is a classic that he’s performed live with Eric Clapton over the years. I briefly have a chance to say hello to him after the set, congratulate him on the Grammy wins, and remind him that we‘re set for an interview the following week. Of course, by the time I’m able to catch up to Nathan in his fast-lane life for a decent chat, it’s now actually two weeks later and he’s halfway around the globe, getting ready fo

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