Nathan East will be unable to perform at the 58th annual Grammy Awards telecast Monday night because he will be performing at the 58th annual Grammy Awards telecast Monday night.

If that sounds like a musical paradox, well, that’s par for the course for this veteran bassist, arranger, singer and producer. Over the past four decades, he’s played on hundreds of albums by some of the biggest names in pop, rock, R&B, jazz, country, blues, gospel, EDM and more. He’s also performed several times on both the Grammy and Oscars telecasts.

In early January, East committed to perform during the 3^1/2 -hour Grammy telecast with Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan, John Legend, Demi Lovato and Meghan Trainor as part of a salute to Richie. In late January, East was invited to perform with Lady Gaga and Nile Rodgers during their Grammy tribute to the recently deceased David Bowie.

“Sadly, I can’t do both,” said East, a graduate of Crawford High School and the University of California San Diego.

Conflicting rehearsal times led the versatile bassist to decline the invitation from Rodgers, with whom East played as a member of French EDM duo Daft Punk’s live band during the 2014 Grammy telecast. Both musicians were prominently featured on “Random Access Memories,” which earned Daft Punk the 2014 Album of the Year Grammy. East and Rodgers were joined by Stevie Wonder and Pharrell Williams for their Grammy performance with Daft Punk.

The bassist first performed at the Grammys with Kenny Loggins in 1985. He returned in 1993 with Eric Clapton, in whose band East has performed over much of the past three decades. He is featured on a number of Clapton’s albums, including the Grammy-winning “MTV Unplugged” and Clapton’s Grammy-winning joint albums with B.B. King and former San Diegan J.J. Cale.

In addition, East has performed with Stevie Wonder, Barbra Streisand and Phil Collins at MusiCares, the annual all-star benefit concerts held by the Recording Academy, under whose auspices the Grammys are produced. Launched 26 years ago, MusiCares raises money to help musicians in need with personal, medical and financial emergencies.

This Saturday’s edition of MusiCares will be held, as in previous years, next to Staples Center at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The honoree is Lionel Richie. The artists who will perform his songs include Wonder, Legend, Bryan, Rihanna, Dave Grohl, Lady Antebellum, Florence Welch, Ellie Goulding and nearly a dozen more.

East will be the bassist for the MusiCares rehearsals this week. As a result, he’ll be dashing between his Grammy telecast and MusiCares rehearsals. To further complicate matters, East is doing the telecast and the MusiCares rehearsals, but not Saturday’s MusiCares performance.

“Conveniently, the rehearsals don’t conflict,” he said, laughing. “That’s the story of my life! Fortunately the Staples Center and the Los Angeles Convention Center are next door to each other. I’ll have different amps and basses at each location, so I can just dash back and forth.”

When East hasperformed at previous editions of the Grammys and MusiCares, does he ever look out from the stage to see who’s sitting in the front rows?

“I’m 100 percent aware of it, because you’re not always playing,” he said. “And, when you’re not, there’s time to have a look at the room. It’s fun. ‘Oh, there’s Katy Perry!’ ‘There’s Beyonce!’ ‘There’s Steven Tyler!’ ‘There’s Ringo!’ ‘There’s Paul McCartney!’ It’s like a Who’s Who, and it’s pretty exciting.”

East is too modest to note that he counts Beyonce, Ringo and Aerosmith singer Tyler among his past collaborators.

Then again, he has worked with such an array of stars over the years — from Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, George Harrison and Herbie Hancock to Iron Maiden, Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, Joe Satriani, Earth, Wind & Fire. and many more — that it’s understandably a challenge to keep track of them all.

In March, East will fly to Miami to play a concert with another longtime collaborator, Phil Collins, whom he bonded several decades ago when they toured as members of Clapton’s band.

Clapton has cited East as one of his three favorite bassists. Recording Academy honcho Neil Portnow is also a fan.

“Nathan is one of the finest bass players on the planet,” Portnow said. “He’s somebody who I think anybody that plays bass in the modern era would look up to, admire and covet the creativity and contributions that he’s made to the art of the instrument, and to popular music.”

Apart from his upcoming Miami gig with Collins, East is keeping his schedule open so that he can plan and record his second solo album. It will be the sequel to his debut solo album, 2014’s self-titled “Nathan East,” which featured such musical pals as Wonder, Clapton, Michael McDonald, Bob James and Ray Parker, Jr.

“Nathan East” earned a 2015 Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. By coincidence, the Grammy in that category last year instead went to another former San Diegan, mandolin wizard Chris Thile, who shared in a win for “Bass and Mandolin,” a song from his most duo album with Edgar Meyer .

Prior to last year, East had been nominated for a Grammy on multiple occasions as a member of Fourplay, the all-star pop-jazz quartet he co-founded in 1991 with James, Larry Carlton and Harvey Mason.

“Fourplay has been nominated at least six times, and it’s just the of the draw regarding what category you’re nominated in,” noted East, a veteran member of the Recording Academy. “One year it was in the Best Pop Instrumental category. And that was the year the Eagles one instrumental song. It was about 90 seconds long. And if the Eagles do an instrumental and get nominated, they’ll win! I may have even voted for them!

“One year, Peter Frampton was nominated in our category, and he won. And if you’re ever up in the same category as (jazz guitar great) Pat Metheny, don’t even go. Stay home! I think he’s had well over 20 Grammy wins, and he deserves every one of them.”

“Of course, if you win a Grammy, it’s the greatest thing ever. If you don’t, people say: ‘This wasn’t fair!’ The big picture is the Grammys shine a light on a lot of different kinds of music and artists, and not everyone can win.”

By George Varga | 6 a.m. Feb. 11, 2016

Bass Player Live returns for its eighth year in Los Angeles with the premier live bass guitar event. The event from Bass Player Magazine will be held on Saturday, November 7 and Sunday, November 8 at SIR Studios. The event will feature two days of exhibits by top gear manufacturers and clinics by world-class bassists. An All-Star Concert featuring this year’s award recipients will be held on the evening of November 7 at Musicians Institute, 6752 Hollywood Blvd in Hollywood, California.

Highlights will include:

*A Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award presented to session legend Nathan East, who will accept his award and perform with his band at the All-Star Concert on November 7, and host a clinic at SIR on November 8. Following 35 years as a first-call Los Angeles studio ace, recording with everyone from Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie and Phil Collins to Eric Clapton, Fourplay and Daft Punk, Nathan at last made his solo debut in 2014 with his chart-topping, self-titled album on the Yamaha Entertainment Group label. His follow-up, The New Cool, with Bob James, was just released. Verdine White of Earth, Wind and Fire will present the award.

*A Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to Motörhead bass icon Lemmy Kilmister, who will accept his award at the All-Star Concert on November 7. Lemmy and Motörhead are celebrating 40 years of the world’s biggest and baddest rock & roll band of all time in 2015, and just released their 22nd studio album,Bad Magic (UDR Music/Motörhead Music). Robert Trijullo of Metallica will present the award.

*A posthumous Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award presented to the family of the late Louis Johnson at the All-Star Concert, followed by a tribute set featuring Louis’s bass peers; plus a tribute clinic hosted by Brothers Johnson guitarist and Louis’s brother George Johnson at SIR on November 8. Passing in 2015 at age 60, Louis “Thunder Thumbs” Johnson forged a landmark career that found him furthering the art of bass playing (and slapping in particular) both as a member of the Brothers Johnson and as a top session bassist with Michael Jackson (Off the Wall, Thriller), Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney and many more.

*A special clinic presentation by session legend Chuck Rainey, joined by fellow studio greats James Gadson on drums and Larry Nash on keyboards.

*A probing pedal and effects clinic by The Mars Volta bassist and author of BP’s “Tonal Vision” column, Juan Alderete.

*A throwdown clinic by gospel bass master Andrew Gouche and his band in support of his new album, We Don’t Need No Bass.

*Bass and vocal phenomenon Tal Wilkenfeld (Jeff Beck, Herbie Hancock)–who received the Bass Player LIVE!“Young Gun” award in 2013–in her first BP LIVE! clinic since 2009.

*TV’s “face of bass,” award-winning producer, and American Idol and The Tonight Show With Jay Lenobandleader Rickey Minor will hold his annual clinic.

* The Bass Player LIVE! debut of virtuoso bassist/producer and Rope A Dope recording artist Bill Dickens, who will present a clinic in support of his new album Tha Truth.

Also slated this year is Mike Merritt’s TV Bass Roundtable with The Late Late Show’s Hagar Ben Ari, an All-Star rock roundtable clinic with dUg Pinnick and Blasko; and artist appearances by Verdine White, Stu Hamm, “Ready” Freddie Washington, Oskar Cartaya, Rhonda Smith,Janek Gwizdala, Jerry Jemmott, Bryant Siono, Jimmy Earl, Phil Chen, Bobby Vega, Sean Hurley, Steve Jenkins, Bunny Brunel, Rufus Philpot, Byron Miller, Scott Reeder, Tony Franklin, Marty O’Brien, Mike Inez, Robert Trujullo, Mike Watt, Steve Bailey, Rex Brown and more.

Among the sponsoring companies are Acoustic, Aguilar, Ampeg, Ashdown, Bass Strings Online, Beat Buddy, D Lakin Basses, D’Addario, Darkglass Electronics, Dunlop, Earthquaker Devices, EBS, Eden, Elixir, Ernie Ball/Music Man, ESP, F Basses, GHS, Hofner, Hoshino/Ibanez, Kala U-Bass, Ken Smith, Kiesel, LaBella, LoPHAT, Mayones Guitars & Basses, Mesa Boogie, MTD, Musicians Institute, NS Design, PRS, Red Witch, Roland/Boss, Spector, Sukop Basses, TC Electronic, Tech 21, Tensor Bass, Trickfish Amps, Tsunami Cables, Wampler Pedals, Wayne Jones Audio and more.

Tickets are on sale now at https://bassplayerlive2015.eventbrite.com. Both single day and weekend packages for the Bass Player LIVE! clinics, exhibits and All-Star Concert are available and priced as follows:

• SIR Studios day pass for Saturday OR Sunday – $37.50 plus fees
• SIR Studios Saturday & Sunday pass + concert – $57.50 plus fees

Note: Each day pass purchase includes a complimentary subscription to Bass Player magazine.

Some of the previous Bass Player LIVE! honorees and attendees include Abraham Laboriel, Chris Squire, Larry Graham, Geezer Butler, Verdine White, Bootsy Collins, Henrik Linder, Jack Casady, Aston “Family Man” Barrett, Charlie Haden, Rocco Prestia, Mike Watt, Billy Sheehan, Victor Wooten, Robert Trujillo, Marcus Miller, Lee Rocker, Darryl Jones, Don Was, Tal Wilkenfeld, Nathan East, and more.

Please note that schedule and artists are subject to change.

Albums just aren’t made like the way “The New Cool” was made. Yamaha Entertainment Group label president Chris Gero put legendary keyboardist Bob James and master bassist Nathan East in the recording studio, equipped them with state-of-the-art Yamaha gear and gave them free reign to create. Recorded entirely in Nashville, the long-time collaborators emerged with an unexpected and audacious collection of original compositions plus a few handpicked classics, an acoustic jazz outing that will make you forget everything you thought you knew about these GRAMMY®-recognized artists best known as contemporary jazz luminaries. The disc produced by Gero, James and East will be released September 18.

“The New Cool” unfolds much in the way the meticulously-crafted project was conceived. The germ begins organically with a couple of intimate James and East duets. Pastoral piano wanderings explore the outer perimeter of straight-ahead jazz where they peruse, mirror and engage with meandering bass lines. In fact, more than half of the record’s compositions written by James and/or East are sparsely-produced, probing piano and bass sojourns. As the seed sprouts, dramatic orchestral accoutrements added by the Nashville Recording Orchestra illuminate the piano, keyboard and bass explorations, contributing hues that are warmly rustic and autumnal or whimsically vibrant. James challenges with deftly inventive arrangements on complex pieces like “All Will Be Revealed” while East counts off supple rhythms that are astutely measured and metered. Fluid melodies and harmonies ranging from subtle, serene and meditative to lush, exquisite and cascading blossom throughout, whether emoted by a dexterous piano, keyboard or bass or East’s celestial vocalese. An imaginatively-arranged version of Willie Nelson’s “Crazy” bops and swings in sublimely surprising style before the ultimate surprise is revealed: a serendipitous vocal from Vince Gill. The proceedings flourish in a gust of breezy Brazilian jazz when percussionist Rafael Padilla and drummer Scott Williamson appear on “Canto Y La Danza” and climax in a crashing crescendo on the explosive and intricately orchestrated “Turbulence.”

“‘The New Cool’ project carries with it a special level of excitement for me as Bob and I have been courting the idea of this duo adventure for many years,” said East, who released his self-titled, GRAMMY® nominated solo debut album last year via Yamaha Entertainment Group on the heels of playing on Daft Punk’s 2014 GRAMMY®-winning Record of the Year “Get Lucky.” “I’ve always loved the sound of the piano and bass together, and have enjoyed duo recordings by the greats: Bill Evans & Eddie Gomez and Keith Jarrett & Charlie Haden. ‘The New Cool’ is our celebration of more than 25 years of friendship and musical camaraderie. This collaboration was embraced by Yamaha Entertainment Group and producer Chris Gero, who took it yet to another level.”

“The more I played with Nathan over the course of many live performances and spanning more than 25 years, the more in sync we were whether or not we had the anchor of the drums,” said James, a two-time GRAMMY® winner considered one of the founding fathers of smooth/contemporary jazz and whose extensive catalogue is frequently sampled on hip hop tracks. “Something special happens when we only have each other’s notes to play off of, when the music is totally exposed.”

Although busy with touring and recording individually as well as together, including as half of the contemporary jazz supergroup Fourplay, James and East are committed and energized by “The New Cool,” which will be supported comprehensively in traditional and non-traditional ways harnessing the full power of Yamaha Entertainment Group. Nearly a dozen video vignettes that take viewers into the recording studio during the making of the album will soon begin to trickle out through the official website (www.TheNewCoolAlbum.com) as well as on the artists’ social media platforms and a full-scale documentary film will unspool in the fall shortly after the album’s street date. A grand-scale concert date is in the initial planning stages, which is expected to be streamed live and captured for television broadcast.

The songs that make-up “The New Cool” album are:

“The New Cool”

“Oliver’s Bag”

“All Will Be Revealed”

“Midnight Magic/Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow”

“Crazy” (featuring Vince Gill)

“How Deep Is The Ocean”

“Canto Y La Danza”

“Waltz For Judy”

“Seattle Sunrise”

“Ghost Of A Chance”

“Turbulence”

“House Of Blue” (U.S. bonus track)

For more information, please visit www.TheNewCoolAlbum.com.