In Conversation With Adam Levy [Electric & Acoustic Guitar Mastery]

Solo artist, sideman and Guitar Tips-nician shares wisdom and love for music and playing

Welcome to the show. We are delighted to welcome Mr Adam Levy to Schwangri-La, as he stops in on the way home after some European tour dates. Adam is an exceptional musician having played with artists including Norah Jones – yes, it’s him on Come Away With Me – Tracy Chapman, Vulfpeck, Madison Cunningham and many, many more. He also has a string of solo releases and side projects.
Adam’s laid-back style is underpinned with extensive harmonic and melodic knowledge, gained in part at least from his studies with the formidable Ted Greene. Those themes of melody and harmony permeate everything Adam brings to the instrument and, lucky for us, shares today.

Enjoy the episode!

Pedals & Stuff used in this show
• Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner

• Radial Big Shot ABY

• Electronic Audio Experiments Limelight

• Milkman F-Stop Reverb & Tremolo

Interesting bits & go-to sections
0:00 Intro playing
2:15 Why are we here?
4:46 Adam’s beginnings
7:45 Music is about rhythm
9:40 Inside the chords
13:10 Nothing new under the sun
16:10 Working with songwriters
20:00 The emotional curve
21:00 Chords and melody
22:50 Adam plays ‘And They All Sang’
27:30 Voice leading?
36:00 Remembering Ted Greene
39:41 All The Things You Are
43:30 You have to do the work
44:20 Acoustic love
48:45 Working with artists, sounding like yourself
55:00 Have good time, all the time
1:01:50 Trust the people you’re playing with
1:03:00 Practice routine
1:04:20 Can you play Happy Birthday?
1:08:00 Focus on one thing at a time
1:11:45 Adam plays ‘Sidewalk Chalk’

Guitars used in today’s show
• Collings I-30 LC
• Collings CJ-35

Amps used in this show
• Fender ’65 Deluxe Reverb with stock speaker

We hope you enjoy this episode. Please subscribe to our channel.

We are on Patreon – crowdfunding for creatives

Please visit our preferred retailers!

[Evy-]

the way he explains what he does might just actually be life changing for me. This might just be the best thing ever. Thank you ever so much

[Burnt_Gerbil]

1:57 He did the chord! He did it, folks! 😆

[Isaac-Draper]

You know it's a great show when you immediately go and play your guitar when it's done. Thanks chaps!

[periloustemple]

Extraordinary! He shares that same all around "whole" person loveliness that is Tim Lerch. They have that calm center from which all this musical magic flows. I have been working up some originals and gotten sort of stuck. I mean, I am still having fun, but this experience today has inspired me to reconsider what is important in these songs. Thanks for tuning me up! Love you all!

[johnseaton]

Yes. This. As someone in a guitar class said once to someone else mid-noodle: "just because you CAN play, doesn't mean you always should"

[jesseglickmusic]

Adam is my #1 favorite guitarist right now. All of his solo stuff is unbelievably touching. This interview came at the right time!

[jonpardoe]

More Jazz please, from a (currently) non-Jazz player. 

Tim Lerch, Jocelyn Gould and now this have been some of my favourite episodes recently, despite not really being about pedals, but certainly all very much about tone.

[rinosphere]

Besides the guitar wisdom and great vibe, can I just day how good the video production is? Sound. Colour. Lighting. All on point. Well done lads.

[morecheesemt]

love it!! thank you! Bill Frisell would be a great guest too... :)

[mrblablablabla]

With a lot of negative stuff going on in my life at the moment, I really needed this show! Super inspirational. It really flipped a switch in my mind. I always had the tendency to fit a melody to chords that were already in place. Now I’ll experiment with just creating a melody line and fitting chords and tones to it later. I already can hear lots of ideas floating around in my mind. Truly appreciated! ❤

[AdamMillerGuitar]

Adam is the best - thanks so much for having him on the show!

[heypockyway]

Some of the guitar parts on the Come Away With Me album and Amos Lee tracks were so dear to me years before I discovered they were Adam. Such a great story and a great approach to music and the guitar. Thanks TPS

[spiltmilk]

This is a kindness, gentlemen. A+ human being and musician.

[fotoajojo]

Met Adam back in 90s at a guitar workshop. He got on stage with Pat Martino who told him he should put his playing more forward. Glad he stayed true to himself. So measured and soulful and about giving to other musicians. So many jazz players are like talking to an alien-if you can’t understand them they have no time for you. Adam taught exactly as you see him here. No ego and really supportive of everyone’s journey no matter their level.

[KyleByquist]

had the pleasure of having Adam as a teacher and mentor when I was in music school; wise beyond words and such a genuinely wonderful human

[jeremyversusjazz]

adams a super great dude and player. met him by accident one day while sitting at an outdoor cafe in nyc back in the 90’s. i was reading a guitar player mag on my lunch hour from my corporate gig, daydreaming about what it would be like to be one of the players in guitar player when up walks one of the players from guitar player…i believe he was the editor if not an editor there at the time. he introduced himself by asking “hey do u play guitar?!” like an excited kid and we chatted about guitar for a good while… then he split—“i gotta get to a session” or words to that effect. i’ve often wondered if he was heading to the Norah Jones sessions since this would’ve been exactly the time he says he moved back to New York to do those sessions. I asked him via comms on his own channel and he could not remember tho he said he remembered our meeting.
so I’m just gonna say that is, in fact, where he was going and leave it at that!
Nobody does more with less than adam. not even bill frisell. a true artist.

[scottcurry]

Lovely show! The jazz folks you have on the show are so beautifully chill! Adam was brilliant! Many thanks.

[brettliebermanmusic]

Read his book a few months ago. Well worth the read. I have been playing for 34 years and still learned some new tips.

[jamesridener]

Great show. Adam’s restraint and overall thoughtfulness is so refreshing. And you can even hear it in his speech. A great example of allowing yourself to be yourself.

[grrrahg]

We had Adam play at our “house party” at a lighthouse in North Scotland, probably 15 years ago. It remains one of my musical highlights. I found him very inspiring. I play his albums frequently.