Born one of the seven children of Thomas and Gwendolyn East on December 8, 1955, in Philadelphia, PA, Nathan East and his family moved to San Diego, CA, when he was four years old to accommodate his father's aerodynamic engineering job. As a child, East would peck out familiar melodies on the family piano. He began playing the cello in the junior high school orchestra when he was in the seventh grade. When East was 14, he switched to bass guitar, inspired by his older brother David's mastery of the instrument. He began playing for local church groups and folk masses with his brothers. East played along with the recordings of jazz bassists Ron Carter, Ray Brown, Charles Mingus, Buster Williams, Scott LaFaro, Motown's James Jamerson, James Brown, Sly Stone with Larry Graham, Cream, and horn bands like Chicago, Tower of Power, and Blood, Sweat & Tears as they came over the radio or out of his record player. The young bassist began playing in his high school's jazz ensemble, marching band, choir, chorus, and pep band, as well as Top 40 bands. He also listened to Wes Montgomery, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Canonball Adderley, George Benson, Bob James, Harvey Mason, Lee Ritenour, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, session bassist Chuck Rainey, Earth, Wind & Fire's Verdine White, and Rocco Prestia. East's breakthrough came while he was a member of a band named Power. They were hired as the road band for a Stax revue. The recognition brought the attention of Barry White, who hired the band for a national tour. Still a teenager, East became a member of the Love Unlimited Orchestra ("Love's Theme") playing Madison Square Garden, the Apollo Theater, and other major venues. East earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music from University of California at San Diego. He was starting to work on a master's degree when instructor Bertram Turetzky suggested that he already had enough education and that it was time for him to go to Los Angeles to try and start a lucrative music career. While getting involved with the San Diego club and studio scene, Barry White contacted him to play on some of his recording projects. In early 1980, veteran writer/arranger Gene Page,