I noticed a shot of a Yamaha grand piano at about the two-thirds mark, and a 1-second Yamaha logo shot in the intro. Also, a couple minutes before the end (for the first and only time that I noticed) the phrase "Yamaha Musician" was used. As far as promoting Nathan East's new album: less than five minutes. It seems to me, after actually watching the film, that there were a lot of (to quote stine_pine) "famous people gushing over him, over and over and over again" because each gush was associated with a stellar performer talking about a groundbreaking recording. There were lots of fast-paced cuts from scene-to-scene, but it seemed to me that that was because they had to make room for the overflowing amount of "gushing" coming from so many world-class artists. From Clapton to Earth Wind and Fire, to Lionel RIchie, to Daft Punk. Overall, this was a more than decent doc and nobody would "rush from the theater" lol.
Nathan East: For the Record
2014
Action / Biography / Documentary / History / Music
Nathan East: For the Record
2014
Action / Biography / Documentary / History / Music
Plot summary
Nathan East For The Record is a documentary film that takes viewers behind-the-scenes as one of the most influential bass players in modern music recorded his debut solo album last year. His long-awaited solo album (released in March) spent four weeks at #1 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Album chart and 34 weeks in the top position on smoothjazz.com. For The Record also chronicles Nathan's three decade plus career from when he hit the road age 16 with Barry White, his session and touring work across musical genres and membership in the legendary jazz quartet Fourplay. The film features interviews with many of the musicians he's worked with including Clapton, Phil Collins, Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, Vince Gill, Herbie Hancock, Don Was and more.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEBMovie Reviews
Not at All a Yamaha Commercial
A Yamaha Commercial
Although music history fans will find some good stuff in this film, it becomes clear about 1/2 way through that this was funded by Yamaha to promote Yamaha instruments and to promote Nathan East's new album. In the first 10 minutes of the film it is well established that Nathan is an exceptional bass player with illustrious credentials and is an all around good guy. The majority of the rest of the film is primarily famous people gushing over him, over and over and over again so that you may be rushing for the exits before the film has ended. It is as much an infomercial as it is a documentary so beware.
Having said all that, there are some interesting nuggets in the film that may make it worth watching. If you are a fan of the history of rock, soul and other kinds of popular music, it may be worth a watch.