Who is the world's greatest current musician?

[thugler]

If we're talking amazing guitarists, it's gotta be Ron Thal aka Bomblefoot. Coincidentally he has replaced Buckethead's role in Guns n' Roses. He's a fucking technical wizard and his music is mind-blowing if not a little inaccessible. He has some incredibly wild time signatures and his music is similar to Yngwie(?) Malmstein only with a sense of humour and adventure throughout. God damn the bloke is good!



Sorry, he's obviously not the greatest current musician but he's pretty high up.

Fucking terrible, as is Yngwie. And I've seen him live with Guns and Roses. All he does is wank.

[The Boston Crab]

I'll use John McLaughlin to answer all of them, Gonzard.

First one, he often does whack out some massive bluesy power-chords and play it strong and simple, it depends on where he wants to take the song. Something like 'Dance of Maya' (shit name) lurches between a ridiculously funky full-on bluesy rocking shuffle and an arpeggiated jazzy lick frenzy, the drums are just as important as the guitar in pushing the songs into different directions.

Second one, obviously depends on personal definition but I've actually never been particularly interested or impressed by virtuosity for the sake of it, I think composition is what I respect above everything else. This is partly because I'm relatively ignorant of 'musicianship' but also comes down to what attracts me to music in general - the creative process, even if that process is as traditionally 'unmusical' as constructing a Chicago jack house track. Hmm, I'm a hypocrite, I guess, can't answer this one fully or fairly.

Third one, again, I think the composition is usually more important than the 'instrumentalism'. Showing my absolute ignorance here but the creative process is much more fascinating to me than someone spending a lot of time and then deservedly, but obviously, being technically very skilled at an instrument. If I can do a lame football analogy, what's more impressive or indeed important, an imaginative through ball which kills the defence and which can't be taught or a million keepy-ups?

Please, tear this all to shreds. I'm waiting for some instant noodles to soften.

[Sam]

Thugler - You need to check out Bumblefoot's actual music as opposed to his work with GNR. Check out his album "Uncool" which is so ecletic it makes Mike Patton seem boring and one-note.

As for my recommendations I'd have to go with Pierre Boulez. Other classical recommendations would be Marc-Andre Hamelin (for technique), Arcadi Volodos (for soul), Pierre Laurent-Aimard (for modern music) and Maurizio Pollini for all round awesomeness.

Guitarwise - Ron Thal, Guthrie Govan and Tommy Emmanuel

Electronic music - Venetian Snares and Prefuse 73

[CaledonianGonzo]

Please, tear this all to shreds.

Shan't!  I pretty much agree with everything you said!  Technical competence only gets you so far - creativity is a far more vital asset than virtuosity.  I mean, I've got no gripe agains the likes of Glenn Gould, but part of the awesomeness of people like Mo Tucker, Johnny Thunders, Stuart Murdoch or Keith Richards is their relative lack of skill.

[thugler]

I'll use John McLaughlin to answer all of them, Gonzard.

Now he can fucking play. His best is past him though. When he's good he's mindblowing.

Thugler - You need to check out Bumblefoot's actual music as opposed to his work with GNR. Check out his album "Uncool" which is so ecletic it makes Mike Patton seem boring and one-note.

As for my recommendations I'd have to go with Pierre Boulez. Other classical recommendations would be Marc-Andre Hamelin (for technique), Arcadi Volodos (for soul), Pierre Laurent-Aimard (for modern music) and Maurizio Pollini for all round awesomeness.

Guitarwise - Ron Thal, Guthrie Govan and Tommy Emmanuel

Electronic music - Venetian Snares and Prefuse 73

When I've heard him solo before it always came across that he was a talented guy at playing super complicated guitar, but not so good at composing songs.

Just had a look on youtube for one of his songs from that album, and found this:

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4mWN8-NM_4[/youtube]

That's fucking bizarre, I'll give him that.

I see the patton influence.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I have to ask, is the 'Les Claypool' tag there as a joke? I don't know of any reason why it should be, but it is in the nature of tags to be sarky. Having just started listening to Primus, I'm totally blown away by his bass playing, not only because of his technical skill, but also the way he (mostly) manages to avoid being an awful fretwanker. Perhaps to people more in the know than me though, he's exactly that.

Anyway, I'm not sure I'd list him as the world's greatest musician, but then it's a question that's so vast in scope that I wouldn't really know where to begin. In terms of who makes the most music that I enjoy listening to at the moment, I think I'd have to say Josh Homme, but then this thread has (along with many others in Oscillations) made me realise how little I really know about music. Even in the relatively narrow field of rock there might be ten people doing more interesting stuff than Homme's various projects and still all that might pale into insignificance compared to the exciting developments in Carpathian throat singing or whatever.

[little pianist]

Keith Jarrett obviously...

[Rexel Matador]

I think some of the greatest examples of songwriting, arrangement and production belong to Brian Wilson and to a lesser extent Michael Jackson.  Although the former is ruled out by the inconsistency of his output and the latter perhaps by the fact that his collaborators deserve a lot of the credit too.

Both completely insane too.  You don't have to be mad to work here, etc.

[Funcrusher]

I'll use John McLaughlin to answer all of them, Gonzard.

McLaughlin at his best is amazing, but he could do with a kick up the arse right now - I had a listen to the latest fusion thing he's got out, 'Floating Point', and by Christ it was dull. I wish they'd do a Mahavishnu reunion, that's one I'd actually pay money for, and it might get JM rocking out again - Shakti and the like is pleasant enough, but I wish he'd plug in and crank up the volume once in a while.

[Don_Preston]

Kawabata Makoto, leader of the Acid Mothers Temple. Even if he's the Japanese psychedelia equivilant of SAW with the continuous output of albums, they're still of consistently high quality.

[NoSleep]

'Dance of Maya' (shit name)

I thought it quite a clever name: a roundabout Hindu way of saying "the Blues", said music form being the basis of the entire track (via some nice slow-picked Thelonius Monk-style voicings amongst other things).

[The Boston Crab]

I stand corrected and humbled :)

I absolutely love it anyway, the way it lurches almost between two different songs. I must say that I've probably listened to the Mahavishnu Orchestra more than any of the awesome stuff you chaps recommended to me in the Jazz thread, possibly tied with 'A Tribute to Jack Johnson'. I think these are definitely the peak of the fusion music I've heard. Also, really glad you told me that the live bootlegs (Berkeley sounds especially good) are even more out there, so good once the studio recordings had taken a serious hold on me.

That reminds me, I must try to get hold of the Cellar/JJ/On the Corner boxsets!

[Don_Preston]

There are plenty (23 in fact) of Mahavishnu Orchestra concerts, from 1973, to stream free (or downlaod for $10) from Wolfgangs Vault

[NoSleep]

Dime's the best place to go for Mahavishnu concerts, due to the higher quality and that they're recorded direct from masters or, at least, the best known source. There's even some live footage available from gigs and TV appearances.

[Funcrusher]

There are plenty (23 in fact) of Mahavishnu Orchestra concerts, from 1973, to stream free (or downlaod for $10) from Wolfgangs Vault

Blimey, you're not wrong, never seen that site before. Will have to explore, there's loads of  good stuff on there from the looks of it.

Listening to Mahavishnu live at Avery Hall NYC right now, aces !

[thugler]

In terms of who makes the most music that I enjoy listening to at the moment, I think I'd have to say Josh Homme

Does that include the last 2 qotsa albums? They bored the pants off me. Isn't another desert sessions due soon?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Well not so much Lullabies to Paralyse (although it has it's moments) but I like Era Vulgaris as much as their other albums.

[thecuriousorange]

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uja3W-ibifc&feature=related[/youtube]

[joeytentra]

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uja3W-ibifc&feature=related[/youtube]

I can't wait to leave this country.