Music Most talented musicians in the world

Mr Pigeon

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@Cheimoon and I are arguably the greatest musicians of all time, but what other ones spring to mind when you think about it?

I just discovered that drummer Larnell Lewis only had two hours of rehearsal time before going into the Snarky Puppy jam session in 2014, having never played the songs before. That blew my mind because the drums were already pretty damn amazing in that set without that little bit of added info.



To be fair the entire band are phenomenal...

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Another example of Larnell just casually listening to a song ONCE and then playing along to it perfectly.

 
I don't get the fascination over these supposes freak talents who can't actually come up with good music. The great guitarists you remember were the ones who came up with iconic and magnificent riffs/solos. Same with vocalists. Technically good vocalists winning competitions is all fine and well but they are largely irrelevant if they can't write good songs.

Obviously there are exceptions.
 
Regarding Larnell Lewis, I love how in most of his videos he seems to not totally grasp what is happening initially and a few seconds later he has everything figured out

Otherwise I don't why but I'm continuously mesmerized by Justin Johnson:

 
Random @Cheimoon tagging is such a thing! :lol: Even I'm doing it.

Anyway, speaking of one-take miracles, Tony Levin is up there. In Bruford's autobiography, he describes how Levin and him were session musicians on one of Al Di Meola's albums (I don't know that guy at all, but I suppose this must be Scenario from 1983). Di Meola was hours too late for a session and Levin was pissed off. When he did arrive, Di Meola played a lot of music and talked about what he wanted from it, but Levin never moved or even took up his bass (well, Chapman Stick). Then, when it was his time to play, he simply plugged in and played all parts perfectly in one take.

There is no footage of this of course, but more generally I'd say Levin has a serious claim to best rock bassist ever. He's played with tons of artists in tons of styles, and always brings something to the table; he's not a guy who just comes to play his parts. I know there are lots of very technical and creative bass players; but I wonder if anyone else combines those qualities with the same musical breadth - which goes from fusion and experimental music to super hits (like with Peter Gabriel).

Otherwise, I never really know who's good and who isn't. I don't know enough about instruments other than keyboards (getting there a bit for drums), plus there are many criteria that could be considered, and so many players I've never even heard about - or that are awesome but that I only know from some simpler, poppy stuff they did. On guitar, though, apparently Guthrie Govan has a claim to the top among current players. He is an extremely gifted player who can do pretty much any style (and yes, another songwriter as well, @amolbhatia50k). Here he is, playing his own composition Culture Clash with The Aristocrats (a progressive rock/metal/fusion super trio):

 
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Alex Hutchings for me. The most amazing guitarist I've ever heard. He's like if someone perfected Shawn Lane.
Drum wise, Larnell Lewis is amazing, as are dudes like Minnermann.



Cause theres never a bad time to post Alex.
 
Victor Wooten has a shout for best bassist as well. Can play any style, has incredible technique and is a scarily good improviser. Improvisation is where the men get separated from the boys, in my opinion. It shows the innate musicality and the ability to immediately bring it to life through the instrument.

Guthrie Govan is the best improviser I've ever seen. The man can come up with something on the spot that surpasses anything most guitarists ever write. I've seen him play live with The Aristocrats and he was doing some mad stuff that was completely different from what was recorded on the albums. Anderton's also interviewed and jammed with him on their channel and that was incredible too.
 
How are you measuring this? For me the most talented musicians are those who can play and create music all on their own so people like Stevie Wonder, Lenny Kravitz and Hank Williams Jr. are some examples of artists who can play all the instruments on record and create hit records.

Other examples would be people like James Brown who have the vision and ability to create material and direct a group of musicians to put out something amazing.
 
Dr. Dwayne said:
How are you measuring this? For me the most talented musicians are those who can play and create music all on their own so people like Stevie Wonder, Lenny Kravitz and Hank Williams Jr. are some examples of artists who can play all the instruments on record and create hit records.

Other examples would be people like James Brown who have the vision and ability to create material and direct a group of musicians to put out something amazing.
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Hank Jr is an amazing singer and definitely well up there for best country singer ever. Not bad with a guitar either!
 
Dr. Dwayne said:
How are you measuring this? For me the most talented musicians are those who can play and create music all on their own so people like Stevie Wonder, Lenny Kravitz and Hank Williams Jr. are some examples of artists who can play all the instruments on record and create hit records.

Other examples would be people like James Brown who have the vision and ability to create material and direct a group of musicians to put out something amazing.
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By that measure surely Prince?
 
DJ Jeff said:
Hank Jr is an amazing singer and definitely well up there for best country singer ever. Not bad with a guitar either!
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Aye, he's also very capable on many different instruments having grown up in the music industry.
 
Everything @Cheimoon said, especially about Tony Levin who i can find no better word to describe than genius. I love Bruford so would throw him into the conversation although it is so hard to compare across styles (how could you compare him to someone like Max Roach, for example?).

Pay Metheny is insanely talented. Jacko is normally in the discussion for bassists, as he should be. In fact there are way too many musicians to name and they are so different and amazing.
 
Cheimoon said:
Random @Cheimoon tagging is such a thing! :lol: Even I'm doing it.

Anyway, speaking of one-take miracles, Tony Levin is up there. In Bruford's autobiography, he describes how Levin and him were session musicians on one of Al Di Meola's albums (I don't know that guy at all, but I suppose this must be Scenario from 1983). Di Meola was hours too late for a session and Levin was pissed off. When he did arrive, Di Meola played a lot of music and talked about what he wanted from it, but Levin never moved or even took up his bass (well, Chapman Stick). Then, when it was his time to play, he simply plugged in and played all parts perfectly in one take.

There is no footage of this of course, but more generally I'd say Levin has a serious claim to best rock bassist ever. He's played with tons of artists in tons of styles, and always brings something to the table; he's not a guy who just comes to play his parts. I know there are lots of very technical and creative bass players; but I wonder if anyone else combines those qualities with the same musical breadth - which goes from fusion and experimental music to super hits (like with Peter Gabriel).

Otherwise, I never really know who's good and who isn't. I don't know enough about instruments other than keyboards (getting there a bit for drums), plus there are many criteria that could be considered, and so many players I've never even heard about - or that are awesome but that I only know from some simpler, poppy stuff they did. On guitar, though, apparently Guthrie Govan has a claim to the top among current players. He is an extremely gifted player who can do pretty much any style (and yes, another songwriter as well, @amolbhatia50k). Here he is, playing his own composition Culture Clash with The Aristocrats (a progressive rock/metal/fusion super trio):

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You sir or madam have an exceptional taste in music, makes me wonder what happened with your taste in football club. j/k.

Tony Levin is absolutely brilliant with Liquid Tension Experiment, amazing musician.
 
padr81 said:
You sir or madam have an exceptional taste in music, makes me wonder what happened with your taste in football club. j/k.
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What football club? :p

If you like Levin's experimental side, Bozzio Levin Stevens is good too - two albums of insanity! Bozzio is anyway an amazing drummer of course. (Can't say I know Stevens, but I assume he's awesome as well.)

Not sure if Pidge wanted us to only talk about complex music though. Good musicians don't necessarily play complex music. :) And as @Dr. Dwayne said, 'most talented musician' could also include multi-instrumentalism and songwriting skills
 
Cheimoon said:
What football club? :p

If you like Levin's experimental side, Bozzio Levin Stevens is good too - two albums of insanity! Bozzio is anyway an amazing drummer of course. (Can't say I know Stevens, but I assume he's awesome as well.)

Not sure if Pidge wanted us to only talk about complex music though. Good musicians don't necessarily play complex music. :) And as @Dr. Dwayne said, 'most talented musician' could also include multi-instrumentalism and songwriting skills
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Aye, I don't mean to shit all over one instrument virtuosos, either, there are lots of possible candidates for this topic.
 
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Cheimoon said:
What football club? :p

If you like Levin's experimental side, Bozzio Levin Stevens is good too - two albums of insanity! Bozzio is anyway an amazing drummer of course. (Can't say I know Stevens, but I assume he's awesome as well.)

Not sure if Pidge wanted us to only talk about complex music though. Good musicians don't necessarily play complex music. :) And as @Dr. Dwayne said, 'most talented musician' could also include multi-instrumentalism and songwriting skills
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Just presumed you were a United fan.

Steve Stevens since you mentioned Bozio, Levn Stevens is a pretty great example of a musician who doesn't always play complicated stuff. His playing with Billy Idol is simple yet really nice (hard to believe its the same guy).
Mike Oldfield would be another who doesn't play complex music but is a brilliant multi instrumentalist/super talented guy.
 
Predictable suggestion, but the Dream Theater guys (not so much LaBrie) are excellent. Portnoy, Myung, Petrucci, Rudess was a hell of a lineup.

Michael Romeo from Symphony X. So good that his solo on Ayreon’s Dawn of a Million Souls made Arjen Lucassen refuse to touch his guitar afterwards.

Buckethead has insane versatility. Then there’s Michael Mills from Toehider.
 
Cheimoon said:
What football club? :p

If you like Levin's experimental side, Bozzio Levin Stevens is good too - two albums of insanity! Bozzio is anyway an amazing drummer of course. (Can't say I know Stevens, but I assume he's awesome as well.)

Not sure if Pidge wanted us to only talk about complex music though. Good musicians don't necessarily play complex music. :) And as @Dr. Dwayne said, 'most talented musician' could also include multi-instrumentalism and songwriting skills
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Talented musicians are talented musicians no matter what. I'd argue that I'd pick Marcus Miller over Jaco despite Jaco being a wankmarathon in comparison
 
From a guitar perspective I would definitely echo the Mateus Asato and Guthrie Govan suggestions, Andy Wood is another absolutely phenomenal player. Derek Trucks is definitely up there too. He’s probably the best at making you actually feel something.
 
Overall - Stevie Wonder who played all the instruments on most of the songs on the Innervisions album including Higher Ground and Living for the City.
Per instrument I’m going with successful artists people have actually heard of .
Guitar-Hendrix
Bass - Chris Squire(Yes)
Drums- Bonham
Keyboard -Rick Wakeman
Singer - Plant
Harmonica - Paul Butterfield
 
Although I am not really a big Dire Straits fan, this performance still gives me chills. Wish I was there and a big shout out to Mark Knopfler and Pick Withers.

 
Larnell is a master drummer for sure. I was fortunate enough to study with him for a year and he taught me a couple of key things that I still use today. Absolutely incredible how deeply he understands music.

I do agree with some of the questions in this thread re- measuring. Songwriting is a completely different skill set from playing an instrument and yet they’re often both thrown in together when measuring a musician’s ability.
 
Stanzin Lama said:
Although I am not really a big Dire Straits fan, this performance still gives me chills. Wish I was there and a big shout out to Mark Knopfler and Pick Withers.

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This performance is way better IMO the best live performance of any song ever
 
These are all mostly modern folks, go back a few hundred years and think of some the fantastic musicians who played and created classical music - it's ==an incredible talent to be able to write and/or play with 30-40 odd people at the same time
 
Red Stone said:
Victor Wooten has a shout for best bassist as well. Can play any style, has incredible technique and is a scarily good improviser. Improvisation is where the men get separated from the boys, in my opinion. It shows the innate musicality and the ability to immediately bring it to life through the instrument.

Guthrie Govan is the best improviser I've ever seen. The man can come up with something on the spot that surpasses anything most guitarists ever write. I've seen him play live with The Aristocrats and he was doing some mad stuff that was completely different from what was recorded on the albums. Anderton's also interviewed and jammed with him on their channel and that was incredible too.
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Came here to say him. Amazing bassist.
 
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