Adam Michael Neely (born 1988) is an American
YouTuber
A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006.
Influence
Influe ...
,
bassist, and
composer. His YouTube channel is described as containing "
music theory,
music cognition
Music psychology, or the psychology of music, may be regarded as a branch of both psychology and musicology. It aims to explain and understand musical behaviour and experience, including the processes through which music is perceived, created, res ...
,
jazz improvisation
Jazz improvisation is the spontaneous invention of melodic solo lines or accompaniment parts in a performance of jazz music. It is one of the defining elements of jazz. Improvisation is composing on the spot, when a singer or instrumentalist inv ...
, musical performance technique,
musicology and memes".
He also creates "Gig
Vlogs
A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...
", which give insight into his life as a professional musician in New York City.
As a musician, he performs as a solo artist, as a session musician, and as a member of a number of New York City-based ensembles, including the
electro-jazz duo Sungazer (along with drummer Shawn Crowder), and the jazz bands Adam Neely's Jazz School and Aberdeen.
Education
Adam Neely graduated from
Berklee College of Music with a B.A in Jazz Composition in 2009
and in 2012, received a
Masters of Music in Jazz Composition from
The Manhattan School of Music as directed under
Jim McNeely. He was awarded the
Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...
ASCAP Young Jazz Composer award in 2012 and 2015
as well as the Jerome Fund commission prize in 2014, for his work "Exigence".
Career
Neely appeared on the BIMM podcast ''EP.8'' to discuss his beginnings in music and approach to creating content. He discussed bass and the role of social media with YouTube bass educator Scott Devine in this podcast. He has also been interviewed by Music U.
Neely is a founding member of the
electro-jazz and
EDM
EDM or E-DM may refer to:
Music
* Electronic dance music
* Early Day Miners, American band
Science and technology
* Electric dipole moment
* Electrical discharge machining
* Electronic distance measurement
*Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...
band Sungazer. He regularly performs with rock band Bright and Loud, indie-soul group Jae Soto, his large ensemble Mass Extinction Event, and a number of singer-songwriters based in New York.
On May 18–20, 2019, Adam Neely, as a member of the band Aberdeen, was hired by the
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
to go to
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...
on a three-day tour that included two concerts and a workshop. The first concert was held at the music venue Ololohaus Erkindik in
Bishkek. The band was joined by the Kyrgyzstani band Choro in a collaborative concert of American rock music. They then held a workshop and masterclass for underprivileged and young students at first the A. Novoi School, located in the
Osh region
Osh Region ( ky, Ош облусу, translit=Osh oblusu; russian: Ошская область, Oshskaya oblast) is a region (''oblast'') of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Osh, which is not part of the region. It is bounded by (clockwise) Jalal-Abad Re ...
in southwest Kyrgyzstan, and then a select group of students within the ''Access Microscholarship program'' at the
Osh Regional Library. They completed their ambassadorship with a concert at School #29 in the capital of Bishkek.
In August 2019, Neely defended
Katy Perry's use of an
ostinato in the song "
Dark Horse" after
she was sued by the rapper
Flame
A flame (from Latin '' flamma'') is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction taking place in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density they ...
.
In December 2019, Neely earned a spot in the
''New Yorker'''s annual Christmas Poem.
Awards
* Collaborative Emmy in "Outstanding New Approaches: Arts, Lifestyle, and Culture" (2020)
* ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award (2011, 2012, 2014)
* Jerome Fund Commission (2014)
Discography
EPs
* 2014: ''Sungazer, Vol.1''
* 2019: ''Sungazer, Vol. 2''
Albums
* 2021: ''Beautiful and Tragic''
* 2021: ''How I Loved My Cat''
* 2021: ''Perihelion''
Singles
* 2017: ''Want to Want Me''
Remixes
* 2017: ''Want to Want Me'' ''(Jason Derulo "djazz" remix)''
Filmography
Animation
* 2018: ''DRUNK (visuals by
Ben Levin)''
* 2019: ''ELECTRO (visuals by
Ben Levin)''
Live recording
* 2018: ''DRUNK''
* 2018: ''Dream of Mahjong''
Music video
* 2014: ''Dream of Mahjong (ft. Ivan Jackson)''
* 2014: ''Sequence Start''
* 2014: ''I Walk Alone (ft. Justina Soto)''
* 2014: ''Level One''
* 2014: ''Ether (ft. Pier Luigi Salami)''
* 2015: ''Ostinato''
* 2015: ''Why We Fight''
* 2018: ''Bird on the Wing''
* 2021: ''Saria's Song (ft. The 8-Bit Big Band)
References
External links
YouTube ChannelSungazer Band
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neely, Adam
Music YouTubers
American YouTubers
Living people
American jazz composers
21st-century jazz composers
American male jazz composers
American jazz bass guitarists
Berklee College of Music alumni
1988 births
21st-century American male musicians