Just Jazz Magazine I East Meets East I Nathan + Noah

I first met Nathan and Noah at the Mr. Musichead Gallery on Sunset, Blvd. They were
supporting their friend, Just Jazz Alumni and distinguished drummer Steve Ferrone (Tom
Petty an the Heartbreakers, Average White Band). The shared support between the pair
was immediately observable and when the three of us came together to talk, it seemed
natural to discuss the topics of family and legacy.
Nathan points to his own roots and history as a source for his development both in music
and in life.
“I think we end up being products of a cumulative life that
starts in different places,” Nathan begins.
“My father (Thomas East) was born in Middledrift, South Africa. He graduated from
Cheney State College in Pennsylvania where I was born. Dad became a track star in 1940
when he set the world-record for the indoor 50 yard and 100 yard dash. He then went on
to become an aeronautical design engineer, inventor and artist.” Nathan describes his
father as “a multi-cultural and multi-talented father who raised 7 kids”, and in many
ways, he has incorporated and adopted his example.
Nathan recalls growing up with a piano at home and his father plucking away at some
melodies, “I feel like I’ve inherited some of his harmonic sense.” At age 14, he further
developed his musical sensibilities at his church in San Diego where he and his older
brothers would play. “[We would] create music on the spot for the services and that’s
where I first discovered the bass in church”. Shortly afterward, Nathan was in a band
with his brother David and by good fortune, Barry White had hired the whole band. At
age 16, Nathan was already touring the country and recording with Barry White.
“The music business is kind of a business of stepping stones
and one thing leads to another,” he says.
Nathan nods to other mentors who have shaped and nurtured him as well, “I have strong
music mentors from UCSD. Cecil Lytle was one of the professors of jazz studies and
actually African rhythms and gospel choir… Bertram Turetzky was my contrabass
instructor and a mentor, who when I started for my masters program, he said, ‘I think
you’re ready to go to LA and join the workforce. Make some money’. And along the way,
there have been some people who continue to be my mentors and role models – the late
Gene Page who used to do all the arrangements for Barry White was a strong model and
advocate for me. I look up to people like Herbie Hancock who I’ve worked with and my
friends in Fourplay, Bob James and Harvey Mason who have become champions and
have recommended me for a lot of work. “