Top Three Musicians Each Instrument?

[crgildart]

Ask me this on any different day and I will probably give completely different answers for some instruments depending on whatever genre I have been listening to most that day..

Drums:
Stewart Copeland
John Bohnam
Neil Peart

Bass:
Bootsy Collins
Flea
Stanley Clarke

Guitar:
Jeff Beck
Steve Vai
Stevie Ray Vaughn

Keys:
John Lord
Rick Davies
Steve Walsh

Cowbell:
Will Farrell.. Fun Fact, his father played with The Righteous Brothers. Will is a pretty solid all around musician..

 

[Mike Thomas]

Bass:
Bootsy Collins
Flea
Stanley Clarke

You spelled Jaco Pastorius wrong.

 

[scott43]

Boy guitar is tough, eh? Open to debate forever. I've always thought Jimi Hendrix is #1. The stuff he does is just awesome. But I guess there is a certain amount of interpretation.

On the drum front, I'll throw out Jeff Porcaro..kinda like Robert Fripp..professional gunslinger who may not have had the recognition he deserved.

 

[crgildart]

You spelled Jaco Pastorius wrong.

I toyed with Wayman Tisdale simply because he did it full on switch (inverted) and it was truly a second career for him after pro basketball.

 

[tch]

I go for the "musician" element rather than the "technician" element. If you can't make it musical, it doesn't matter how good you are at playing the notes. For me, chief technician example is Leo Kottke on guitar. Incredible technique....ultimately not musical.

So I'll reiterate my affection for Ringo on drums. He knows just when to play...and when not to.

As for guitar, someone else has to think Mark Knopfler is up there among the best.
But above all, Doc Watson reigns supreme. He is incredibly precise and fast, but with nuance and accent. And he makes it seem so easy, like he's just breathing the music. If he'd picked up the electric, he'd have played the pants off Jimi or Eric or any other "guitar god".

 

[BS Slarver]

Dart man

Like the list and agreed it probably changes with ones mood and beverage ?

I would invert your drummer list as peart is just incredible, If you get a chance, read his book
( ghost rider, I believe ? ) about his motorcycle trip after loosing both his daughter and then his wife.

Guitar and bass - man so many to add as Greg has mentioned but your list is solid,
Joe Bonamassa an upstate local boy should be a top pick. Check out live at the beacon, It's in the regular bluray line up. In fact most of your list is in the rotation.

Perhaps a audiophile thread is next.....?
Listening to any of your choices on a good set up is always a good evening.

 

[Ken_R]

dang ok I can only comment on my favorite instrument to listen to:

Top 3 Guitarists....in no particular order:
Jimi Hendrix
BB King
Jimmy Page

Also love BB King, Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana. I also think Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) is awesome. I grew up listening to Eddie Van Halen and Slash so must mention them. All these guys and more are absolute masters of the guitar to the point it is an extension of them. Genius musicians for sure.

 

[Bill Talbot]

Sax...
Stan Getz

Guitar...
BIG Al Anderson

Drums
Tommy Ardolino

Here's BIG Al and tommy at work in the early 90's

 

[crgildart]

Great nominations everyone. I didn't put mine an any particular order. Also, like TCH noted, pure technical ability wasn't the absolute descriptor I considered. In fact, it was a much lower consideration to "fun factor" or Flea would not have been anywhere on the map for me. People like Earl Klugh, Bonnamoso, Invgie, Steve Gadd, Simon Phillips, Les Claypool, etc are all worthy of a top X list and play circles around everyone on mine from a technical standpoint. The lists are great in the fact they represent to some degree what people really appreciate most in their music selections.

 

[Tominator]

 

[crgildart]

Bill, my drum teacher back in the late 70s/early 80s was a fan/friend of Ardolino's.

 

[Tom K.]

Boy guitar is tough, eh? Open to debate forever. I've always thought Jimi Hendrix is #1. The stuff he does is just awesome. But I guess there is a certain amount of interpretation.

When asked by Rolling Stone what it was like to be the world's greatest guitarist, Hendrix replied to the effect "I don't know, why don't you ask Rory Gallagher".

So:
Just RIPPING!

 

[Lorenzzo]

I can't say who the top three are, it's like comparing athletes from different era and in different sports. I can only say who impresses me the most based on my taste and what moves me:

Guitar:

Jimmy Paige - command and judgement like no other. Look how he styled his Yardbirds and LZ stuff. You could kinda tell when he was at the edge of his command but it worked.

Neil Young - To get a sense of what he could do and appreciate his integration it only takes Down By The River. There are many more but he used it as an artist uses color. It's not only about getting attention with it, it's more about how to weave it into the overall.

Jimi Hendrix - Best command. If he didn't want it to sound like a guitar he'd figure out how to create something new, all of it effortless. But the narcissistic approach, short catalog and integration not given much thought demotes him to 3 in my book.

Honorable Mention: Chuck Berry, BB King, Duane Allman, George Harrison

Keyboard:

Joe Zawinal - It's a keyboard, right? That's a song, right?

Patrice Rushen - The most beautiful and melodic I've ever heard. Sneaky command.

Ray Charles - Was it his blindness? Pure talent? Led the league in creating music with it.

Honorable Mention: Jan Hammer, Rick Wakeman, Lonnie Smith, Booker T Jones

Sax etc.:

John Coltrane - I can't listen without stopping what I'm doing and trying to ride along.

Wayne Shorter - Yes Weather Report elevated all of them but no-one knew better how to individualize and harmonize than him.

Clarence Cleamons - Did Bruce Springsteen really meet him in an unemployment line? To me the sax is about power, tension, melody, restraint and taking those moments in the spotlight and knowing what to do.

Drums:

Could be my ear or the role I think they play but to me they're just a metronome.

Bass:

Stanley Clarke - Somebody else do a School Days. Anybody?

Jaco Pastorius - I'm drawn to the ones who can bring it out of the background and into the music which with bass is often innovative.

Paul McCartney - The songs are so iconic it can be hard to find his bass but the best job ever of enhancing the music which is job one for it.


Next thread might be offering a play list. With streaming in moments you're onto someone else's list.

 

[crgildart]

Next thread might be offering a play list. With streaming in moments you're onto someone else's list.

That will be fun in the off season. Too many people still skiing right now.

 

[scott43]

I go for the "musician" element rather than the "technician" element. If you can't make it musical, it doesn't matter how good you are at playing the notes. For me, chief technician example is Leo Kottke on guitar. Incredible technique....ultimately not musical.

Prime example: Yngwie Malmsteen..

 

[crgildart]

^^^Saw him live in the mid 90s.

 

[Lorenzzo]

Feedback anyone? He changed his singing voice so it and his guitar better complemented each other.

 

[graham418]

hmmm , lets add a few
Guitar - Chet Atkins
Mark Knopfler
Al Dimeola

Keys Jimmy Smith

Drums - Gene Krupa
Ginger Baker

I'll think of more when they come to me

 

[skibob]

Ask me this on any different day and I will probably give completely different answers for some instruments depending on whatever genre I have been listening to most that day..

Drums:
Stewart Copeland
John Bohnam
Neil Peart

Bass:
Bootsy Collins
Flea
Stanley Clarke

Guitar:
Jeff Beck
Steve Vai
Stevie Ray Vaughn

Keys:
John Lord
Rick Davies
Steve Walsh

Cowbell:
Will Farrell.. Fun Fact, his father played with The Righteous Brothers. Will is a pretty solid all around musician..

Sorry, Can't take seriously any list that doesn't put Geddy Lee AND Neil Peart respectively first. I always felt sorry for Alex Liefson. He's a seriously talented musician who would be the standout in almost any band . . . except for Rush.

Guitar: Not sure what order, but Jimmy must make list . . . I'm assuming this is a rock and roll list, but you've got Stanley Clarke (with which I agree), so:

 

[skibob]

Great nominations everyone. I didn't put mine an any particular order. Also, like TCH noted, pure technical ability wasn't the absolute descriptor I considered. In fact, it was a much lower consideration to "fun factor" or Flea would not have been anywhere on the map for me. People like Earl Klugh, Bonnamoso, Invgie, Steve Gadd, Simon Phillips, Les Claypool, etc are all worthy of a top X list and play circles around everyone on mine from a technical standpoint. The lists are great in the fact they represent to some degree what people really appreciate most in their music selections.

I used to run into Les Claypool occasionally. My daughter went to same school as his kid for several years. Genuinely nice and down to earth guy. And totally agree on the "technical bassist" perspective.