Adam Neely

Sungazer Plus Live at the Blue Note (full concert)

Jun 23, 2026

This big band concert film was recorded over the course of two days, July 1-2 2025, at the Blue Note in NYC. Different video of different sets from each night were combined to create this full concert film. One day we'll release an album, but until then, please enjoy this set! 0:00 Intro 0:33 Cool 7 6:50 Macchina 13:14 Skrontch 19:08 Hot Saturn 23:08 Threshold 27:53 Anthem 32:31 Thicc 35:49 All These People 40:57 Drunk 48:03 [band introductions] 49:48 I Walk Alone Sungazer Plus is… Alto Sax 1 - Zac Zinger Alto Sax 2 - Brian Plautz Tenor Sax 1 - Jared Yee Tenor Sax 2 - Olivia Hughart Bari Sax - Lo Wood Trumpet 1 - Kai Sandoval Trumpet 2 - Allison Philips Trumpet 3 - Bobby Spellman Trumpet 4 - Chloe Rowlands Trombone 1 - Jimmy O’Connell Trombone 2 - Jacob Melsha Trombone 3 - Jasim Perales Bass Trombone - Becca Patterson Keys - Button Masher (Jake Silverman) Guitar - Joshua De La Victoria Bass - Adam Neely Drums - Shawn Crowder Mixed by Sean Richards Video by Studio 42 (Alessio Romano) All music by Sungazer (Shawn Crowder and Adam Neely) Big Band Arrangements by Adam Neely

They Teach AI Music at Music School Now...

May 28, 2026

Berklee College of Music now teaches classes in AI songwriting, and that's a really dumb idea. 0:00 Intro 0:43 Student Backlash 2:53 Berklee President’s ties to Suno 4:01 “book burning” 5:42 Problem 1 - Branding 8:17 Problem 2 - Berklee is out of touch 11:03 Problem 3 - “AI Music” and Suno 14:11 Problem 4 - People really don’t like AI music Adam

Suno, AI Music, and the Bad Future

Feb 2, 2026

🚀 Get Nebula using my link for 50% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/adamneely 🚀 Get $200 off a lifetime Nebula subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/lifetime?ref=adamneely 🚀 Check out MarcButEvil's Nebula exclusive, The Breakup - McCartney After the Beatles (Episode 1) https://nebula.tv/videos/marcbutevil-the-breakup-mccartney-after-the-beatles-episode-1?ref=adamneely Intro animation by Ben Levin https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLuHOqDilyLQT4NPXQuVN4Q Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1my3jJ96cyKmHubZu5mTLgp3wzEWtXKJkqfP0kKcF6kE/edit?usp=sharing Pete Seeger - What Side are You On? https://youtu.be/mbyaliQP-x0?list=RDmbyaliQP-x0 0:00 Intro 4:06 Challenge accepted 6:55 Three Questions 24:14 Why no influences? (deskilling/narcissism) 35:50 Profiles of the Future 47:54 Good uses of Suno 59:05 Futurism/Techno-Optimism 1:16:22 New Virtues 1:22:03 Final Predictions

The Ludacris song that BROKE my brain

Aug 6, 2025

Trying to learn how to hear 1 in Roll Out by Ludacris. Come see Sungazer on tour in the UK/Ireland 🇮🇪/🇬🇧 ! http://sungazermusic.com/tour Trying to learn how to hear 1 in Roll Out by Ludacris. 0:00 Intro 2:23 Attempt #1 - Count & move along 3:10 Attempt #2 - Change the song a bit 8:36 Attempt #3 - Count & PLAY the song 13:58 Attempt #4 - Noodle (for science) 16:32 Attempt #5 - Rap/sing the hook 20:29 Epilogue - Final Thoughts If you have been tapped into music theory discourse™️ for the past couple years, you're probably familiar with Ludagate - the discussion about where the downbeat is in Roll Out by Ludacris. The answer is pretty simple, it's on the word out. Roll is on beat 4, out is on beat 1. Thats how his live band counts it in. It's a pretty cut and dry case, no real ambiguity. However, the PROBLEM is that I can't hear it that way, I have a different hearing of the music, because my ear is drawn to certain elements within the music that cause me to hear it the way that I do. That's a frustrating problem to have - it means that I'm experiencing reality very differently that the musicians who make the music. I at least want to be on the same page as them when I listen to the music. So, I set about learning to FLIP my hearing to the correct hearing, and it was quite a process. I think I finally did, but it was a lot harder than I thought it would be, and required me to *gulp* rap in public to finally get the downbeat to flip for me. Mazbou Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY3vRTbA3VU https://youtu.be/uY3vRTbA3VU (his song Polymers) Post from Dr. Robert Komaniecki https://www.instagram.com/p/DL8RhwVBveo/ 12Tone’s Excellent overview/analysis of Roll Out https://youtu.be/6LgtXINpf6w Shawn Crowder’s video on Counting https://youtu.be/Aun3-bKojnM (⌐■_■) ⦿ Check out some of my music ⦿ http://sungazermusic.bandcamp.com http://insideoutsidemusic.bandcamp.com http://adamneelymusic.bandcamp.com Peace, Adam

The Harmonic Genius of Lau Noah

Jun 30, 2025

Lau Noah knows every chord, and how to use them. Listen to our EP together - the Way Under - out now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_tSd8y5O1E Go listen to Lau Noah’s music wherever you stream her music also! Lau’s Patreon (Wooden chair 🪑 tutorial and more) https://www.patreon.com/launoah?utm_source=search 0:00 Intro 1:17 Harmonizing guitar voicings note-by-note (La Belleza) 3:04 Developing a deep harmonic vocabulary (You are too Beautiful) 6:12 Americana and storytelling (Wooden Chair) 9:32 Chutes and Ladders with harmony 14:29 Adam’s thoughts on naming things 17:20 Recording the Way Under

Touring in Canada be like…

May 13, 2025

Come see me on tour. ☀️ http://sungazermusic.com/tour ☀️ Thanks to Portraits for being a swell group of dudes. Go check out their music, I think you will like it! Sungazer Crew - Me - Bass Shawn Crowder - Drums Joshua De La Victoria - Guitar Jared Yee - Sax Sean Richards - TM/FOH Jacki Viteta - Photo/Merch Tour dates for this summer - May 15 – Shenzhen 🇨🇳 – Hou Live May 16 – Shanghai 🇨🇳 – Blue Note Shanghai May 17 – Beijing 🇨🇳 – Blue Note Beijing May 18 – Beijing 🇨🇳 – Blue Note Beijing May 23 – Tokyo 🇯🇵 – Unit (+) June 27 – Edmonton 🇨🇦 – Edmonton Jazz Fest June 28 – Victoria 🇨🇦 – Victoria Jazz Fest June 30 – New York 🇺🇸 – Blue Note Jazz Fest July 1 – New York 🇺🇸 – Sungazer Plus @ Blue Note Jazz Fest July 2 – New York 🇺🇸 – Sungazer Plus @ Blue Note Jazz Fest August 9 – Dublin 🇮🇪 – Opium (^) August 10 – Belfast 🇬🇧 – Limelight 2 (^) August 12 – Glasgow 🇬🇧 – Cathouse (^) August 13 – Newcastle 🇬🇧 – The Grove (^) August 14 – Bristol 🇬🇧 – ArcTanGent August 16 – Brighton 🇬🇧 – Chalk (^) August 22 – Boston 🇺🇸 – Suffolk Downs (Supporting Snarky Puppy) (^) w support from Maddie Asheman (+) w support from Button Masher Peace, Adam

The Ethics of Fake Guitar

May 2, 2025

Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/adamneely Watch my exclusive interview with a Virtue Ethicist about fake guitar https://nebula.tv/videos/adam-neely-reacting-to-fake-guitar-videos-with-a-virtue-ethicist Get a lifetime subscription to Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/lifetime?ref=adamneely 0:00 Intro 3:42 Part I - A Brief History of Faking Performances 10:15 Part II - How to Fake Musical Performances 15:07 Part III - Why Faking Performances is WRONG 19:54 Part IV - Why Faking Performances is OKAY (the noble lie) 27:21 Part V - Genre and Morality 37:00 Part VI - “Let’s Talk about Jazz” 47:34 Part VII - Role Models Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jltJuXy5lMJa2DLB8Ab2zPfwePulGRnS-yB0ebkBG6g/edit?usp=sharing Music from the Introduction: Gustav Holst - The Planets (Mars, Bringer of War) National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Michael Francis (conductor) (In the spirit of fake performances, I altered this recording a bit to better fit the timing of the YouTube video) (⌐■_■) ⦿ Adam Neely T-shirts! ⦿ https://teespring.com/stores/adam-neely-merchandise ⦿ SUPPORT ME ON PATREON ⦿ http://www.patreon.com/adamneely ⦿ FOLLOW ME ON THE INTERNETS ⦿ http://www.facebook.com/adamneely http://www.instagram.com/its_adamneely ⦿ Check out some of my music ⦿ http://sungazermusic.bandcamp.com http://insideoutsidemusic.bandcamp.com http://adamneelymusic.bandcamp.com Peace, Adam

Sungazer - Paydushko Horo [Bass Play-through]

Jan 3, 2025

Listen to Sungazer - Against the Fall of Night wherever you stream your music! Come see us on tour http://sungazermusic.com/tour EDM/Prog/Jazz version of Bulgarian/Macedonian trad dance. Adam

The Secret to Better IEM Rigs (for touring bands)

Dec 31, 2024

Donate to high-impact, cost-effective charities today with Give Well. http://givewell.org This is how we built Sungazer's latest IEM rig using an analog audio over ether net split. Come see us live! sungazermusic.com/tour 0:00 Intro 0:43 Defining the problems 2:26 Building the Analog Audio over Ethernet IEM Rig 3:47 Solution 1 - D'Addario Modular Snake 5:56 Solution 2 - Sound Tools Cat Rack 8:00 Putting it all together 12:03 Weird Quirks with this kind of system 15:07 Final Thoughts My last in-ear monitor video https://youtu.be/mHoljbkyAEs Company that does these kinds of builds (and way better than us) https://btpa.com/ ⦿ Check out some of my music ⦿ http://sungazermusic.bandcamp.com http://insideoutsidemusic.bandcamp.com http://adamneelymusic.bandcamp.com Peace, Adam

Sungazer - Hot Saturn [Bass Play-through]

Dec 5, 2024

Listen to Sungazer - Against the Fall of Night wherever you stream your music! Come see us on tour http://sungazermusic.com/tour I realized that I haven't had a video of me playing bass on this channel for like, a decade, so here's a video of me playing bass! Enjoy. Adam

Why does everyone sing it like THAT?

Nov 29, 2024

COD IN THE MID00000l - why does every pop singer of the past 20 years sing in like that? 🎼 Come see Sungazer on Tour! | http://www.sungazermusic.com/tour 0:00 Intro 0:45 Examples of "caught in the middle" 2:40 Question #1 - Why is this happening? 2:47 Reason 1 - Tone Painting 3:46 Reason 2 - Prosody 5:58 Question #2 - Why is this only happening in the past 20 years? 7:22 Reason 1 - Scotch Snaps 8:37 Reason 2 - Cot-Caught Merger 9:22 Reason 3 - Popularity (⌐■_■) ⦿ Check out some of my music ⦿ http://sungazermusic.bandcamp.com http://insideoutsidemusic.bandcamp.com http://adamneelymusic.bandcamp.com Peace, Adam

Can you Improve your Internal Clock WITHOUT a metronome? | Q+A

Oct 4, 2024

Also, is "real jazz" in NYC, and why tune to EADGC | Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/adamneely 0:00 Intro 0:02 Can you improve your internal clock without a metronome? 4:09 Is REAL JAZZ in NYC? 7:24 What's the early history of the double bass drum? 8:41 What do you think about the Finale shutdown? 10:09 What was your experience at Radar Festival like? 11:00 How did you get that sound on the Sungazer track 12:14 Why high C instead of B? 13:03 How was Serbia? 13:48 Are you going on tour anytime soon? Ari Hoenig QUINTET Live at Smalls Jazz Club - Billie's Bounce https://youtu.be/WfwlW_a99Jw (⌐■_■) ⦿ Adam Neely T-shirts! ⦿ https://teespring.com/stores/adam-neely-merchandise ⦿ SUPPORT ME ON PATREON ⦿ http://www.patreon.com/adamneely ⦿ FOLLOW ME ON THE INTERNETS ⦿ http://www.facebook.com/adamneely http://www.instagram.com/its_adamneely ⦿ Check out some of my music ⦿ http://sungazermusic.bandcamp.com http://insideoutsidemusic.bandcamp.com http://adamneelymusic.bandcamp.com Peace, Adam

Can the audience dance to this?

Sep 24, 2024

Dancing to some metrically modulating polyrhythms! Come see Sungazer on TOUR this fall! http://www.sungazermusic.com/tour Listen to Cool 7 wherever you stream your music, and be sure to dance to it as well. Be sure to check out YogevGabay's YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@YogevGabay As well as ShawnCrowder's https://www.youtube.com/@ShawnCrowder

Wait, it's all just in 4/4?

Aug 26, 2024

Talking 11-tuplets, advanced 4/4, and Sungazer! Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/adamneely Watch the exclusive Sungazer Belgrade vlog: https://nebula.tv/videos/adam-neely-lufthansa-lost-my-bass-and-all-of-our-gear-vlog 0:00 Intro 4:21 Hypertuplets 11:17 The Language of Undectuplets 16:39 Hypertuplet Aksak 20:34 7-Eleven Polyrhythms LISTEN TO AGAINST THE FALL OF NIGHT wherever you stream your music! Full new album out Sept 27 sungazermusic.com Come see Sungazer on tour! sungazermusic.com/tour Some music psychology sources https://tinyurl.com/bdej9d2z Check out Shawn Crowder’s excellent YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@ShawnCrowder

What makes Meet the Grahams sound scary? | Q+A

May 28, 2024

Answering Music Theory questions from instagram Come see sungazer play live! https://sungazermusic.com/tour 0:00 Intro 0:01 Why does Meet the Grahams sound scary? 2:48 Is A# and Bb the same? 3:34 How do you jam over the internet with latency? 7:26 Have you ever played in a professional big band? 7:57 Cool guitar chord? 8:12 Does E7 resolve to Cmaj7? 10:00 How do you handle negative criticism of your music? 10:44 I’m a beginner, how do I improvise? 12:00 What is your view on piano-centric music education? 12:55 How do you feel about opening for Snarky Puppy? (⌐■_■) ⦿ Adam Neely T-shirts! ⦿ https://teespring.com/stores/adam-neely-merchandise ⦿ SUPPORT ME ON PATREON ⦿ http://www.patreon.com/adamneely ⦿ FOLLOW ME ON THE INTERNETS ⦿ http://www.facebook.com/adamneely http://www.instagram.com/its_adamneely ⦿ Check out some of my music ⦿ http://sungazermusic.bandcamp.com http://insideoutsidemusic.bandcamp.com http://adamneelymusic.bandcamp.com Peace, Adam

Why AI is Doomed to Fail the Musical Turing Test

Apr 30, 2024

AI will get vibed at the jam session, and there's nothing that it can about it. 🎹 Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/adamneely 🧠 Watch Tibees video on the original Turing Paper: https://nebula.tv/videos/tibees-the-original-turing-test-paper?ref=adam-neely 🚀Get lifetime access to Nebula for $300: https://go.nebula.tv/lifetime?ref=adam-neely 0:00 Intro 3:54 Part I - Musical Turing Tests 10:56 Part II - Thinking Like a Human 20:17 Part III - "Not music" Sources: https://tinyurl.com/5n85k5bk Valerio Velardo's channel on AI music. https://www.youtube.com/c/ValerioVelardoTheSoundofAI (⌐■_■) ⦿ Adam Neely T-shirts! ⦿ https://teespring.com/stores/adam-neely-merchandise ⦿ SUPPORT ME ON PATREON ⦿ http://www.patreon.com/adamneely ⦿ FOLLOW ME ON THE INTERNETS ⦿ http://www.facebook.com/adamneely http://www.instagram.com/its_adamneely ⦿ Check out some of my music ⦿ http://sungazermusic.bandcamp.com http://insideoutsidemusic.bandcamp.com http://adamneelymusic.bandcamp.com Peace, Adam

Chechnya's Bizzare Ban on Musical Tempo

Apr 11, 2024

Chechnya's Cultural Minister just banned all music outside of 80-116BPM...why? well.... This is probably just a clever way to make sure that Lezginka is legal (which is crazy fast, but whose half time tempo fits within this window) but foreign music like House and Techno does not. Thanks to Dr. VanHandel for joining me! Follow her on twXtter... https://x.com/Dr_VanHandel Sources: bit.ly/3xvtU8X Chechan Music Playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0jRZdXgg0IjGqOepEp4MVB?si=9de187fabae74799 (⌐■_■) Peace, Adam