Best Musicians of All Time (Rock/Jazz) - Music Diaries

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

kynes wrote:

Guitar Suggestions:

Manzanita - Tony Rice
The Bluegrass Album Vol. 1 - The Bluegrass Album Band (Tony Rice)
JD. Crowe & The New South - JD. Crowe & The New South (Tony Rice)
Five Leaves Left - Nick Drake
Bryter Layter- Nick Drake
Pink Moon - Nick Drake
Rosemary Lane - Bert Jansch
Solid Air - John Martyn
Bless the Weather - John Martyn
Sweetheart of the Rodeo - The Byrds (Clarence White)
Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega
Alvvays - Alvvays (Alec O'Hanley)
The Queen is Dead - The Smiths (Johnny Marr)
6 and 12 String Guitar - Leo Kottke
Murmur - REM (Peter Buck)
Life's Rich Pageant - REM (Peter Buck)
Blues Run the Game - Jackson C. Frank
Allo Darlin' - Allo Darlin' (Paul Rains)
Sky Blue Sky - Wilco (Nels Cline)
Stands for Decibels - The dB's (Chris Stamey)
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (John Squire)
Capacity - Big Thief (Buck Meek, Adrienne Lenker)
Entertainment! - Gang of Four (Andy Gill)
Trout Steel - Mike Cooper
Dire Straits - Dire Straits (Mark Knopfler)
Some Kind of Cadwallader - Algernon Cadwallader (Joe Reinhart, Colin Mahony)
Talking Heads '77 - Talking Heads (David Byrne)
Passion and Warfare - Steve Vai
Surfing with the Alien - Joe Satriani
Ah Via Musicom - Eric Johnson

Thank you, several interesting selections to look into/check out and/or revisit. I am still working out where my cut off point will be for each of these lists so even though many hundreds (thousands?) of albums would be worthy of mention, not all would be among the "best" so inclusion will be dependant on that in some cases. As my guitar list stands now (in its very early stage) the last few are probably near where the cut off point will be while the top is much higher, so there's a fairly big gap even though its only like 20ish selections so far (and even if a "big gap" theyre still all very great or better in this category).
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Last edited by AfterHours on 11/30/2019 18:28; edited 1 time in total

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

PurpleHazel wrote:

Guitar - Lead/Rhythm suggestions:

The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery - Wes Montgomery
Bitches Brew - Miles Davis (John McLaughlin)
Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart (Bill Harkleroad & Jeff Cotton)
Larks Tongues in Aspic / Red - King Crimson (Robert Fripp)
Ask the Ages - Sonny Sharrock
Everybody Knows This is Nowhere - Neil Young
Strange Meeting - Power Tools (Bill Frisell)
Tales of Captain Black - James Blood Ulmer
Pat Metheny Group / Rejoicing - Pat Metheny
Solstice - Ralph Towner
Hot Rats - Frank Zappa
What Means Solid, Traveller? - David Torn
Virtuoso - Joe Pass
Instrumentals - The Nels Cline Singers (Nels Cline)
Le Sens de la Marche - Marc Ducret
Meltframe - Mary Halvorson
Spirit World - Tisziji Munoz [with Pharoah Sanders & Rashied Ali]
Asmodeus: Book of Angels, Volume 7 - Marc Ribot [John Zorn: composer]
Brolt! - Scorch Trio (Raoul Björkenheim)
Stone Crazy! (aka Blues Giant) - Buddy Guy
Secret Asylum - Ray Russell

Thank you, lots of great ones here. Most of these will likely be added at some point. Im not familiar with some of the albums though even those seem like they have a good shot based on who the guitarist(s) are.
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PurpleHazel

Tisziji Munoz and Raoul Bjorkenheim are obscure, but worth checking out. All of Munoz's albums save two were just released on his own label, which for a long time were only available through his website, so he's very obscure. Think he has only one sideman credit too, on a late 70s Pharoah Sanders album. Virtually all his albums are on Spotify now, though.

Based on your standards, Hot Rats and Joe Pass' Virtuoso probably belong in the top 10 of my list.

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

PurpleHazel wrote:

Tisziji Munoz and Raoul Bjorkenheim are obscure, but worth checking out. All of Munoz's albums save two were just released on his own label, which for a long time were only available through his website, so he's very obscure. Think he has only one sideman credit too, on a late 70s Pharoah Sanders album. Virtually all his albums are on Spotify now, though.

Based on your standards, Hot Rats and Joe Pass' Virtuoso probably belong in the top 10 of my list.

Thanks, I use Spotify like oxygen so Ill check them out.

Love Hot Rats. Dont think Ive heard Virtuoso before.
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AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Just started adding Bass & Drum/Percussion entries now, which Ill mostly be putting together simultaneous to the Lead/Rhythm guitar section, and (probably less frequent) the Vocals section.

Still lots of work to do on these previous sections including revisiting/checking out various recommendations sent by users
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AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Misc...

AfterHours wrote:

All 3 of Drake's albums will likely be added

A much more amusing comment when taken out of context Laughing

Re: Drums ... Bass ...

Bear with me while I work these rankings out. Tougher to judge than other categories. Ex: with drums/percussion it is quite challenging to compare an album performance by a supreme poet of the instrument (and anti spectacular technician) such as Charlie Watts (or, say, the trance/motorik/anguished contemplations of Klaus Dinger...) to a supreme virtuoso of the instrument like Damon Che Fitzgerald (who is obviously more "spectacular" and "virtuostic" and "ferocious" but maybe not necessarily more emotionally/conceptually significant) ... or even tougher: someone like Peart or Fitzgerald vs the utterly anti-virtuoso (but extremely unique, highly suggestive, expressionist) art of the VUs Maureen Tucker. For me, these comparisons are harder to determine than, say, vocals -- probably because there is a slimmer tonal palette to listen for and this can make the judgement of emotional/conceptual significance or impact and differential between these a little more difficult to judge.

Similar difficulties abound for bass. All the categories share these challenges to greater or lesser degree; just some are easier to determine than others.
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Fischman
RockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMaster

Gender: Male
Location: Land of Enchantment

You've probably got far more guitar suggestions than you can digest for this diary, at least in the short term, so I'll leave that alone even though I do have some favorites I think worthy of mention.

Drum suggestion: Billy Cobham - Spectrum. Best of both worlds; expressive and virtuoso. Cobham is in a class of his own.

Bass suggestions:
The Who (John Entwistle)- Quadrophenia. Actually just about any Who album will do, but IMO, Quad is the one where Entwistle really sets the mood (on some cuts--it is a double). The Real Me drops my jaw each and every time.

Blackfoot (Greg T. Walker) - Flyin' High. Here's my unknown suggestion. Blackfoot always had a great rhythm section with Walker on bass and Jackson Spires on drums--in fact, go ahead and make this album a drum selection as well! But Walker is fairly kept in the background for most Blackfoot albums. However, I really nails it on Flyin' High. This is very energetic bass riffing and, more importantly, really propels the music. Key cuts are the title cut, Dancin' Man, and Madness.

Black Sabbath (Geezer Butler) - Heaven and Hell. Forget about the Ozzy vs. Dio debate and just listen to the bass. Wishing Well in particular stands alone in the annals of heavy rock bass.

Iron Maiden (Steve Harris) - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Harris is often cited as the class of heavy metal bassists, but he does rely on the "galloping" bass line too much. This is the album where he demonstrates some real versatility, especially on Infinite Dreams.

Led Zeppelin (John Paul Jones) - II. Again, most any Zep album will be something of a bass tour de force. In fact, I would argue that Jones is as essential, if not more so, than any other (more famous and acclaimed) member of Zep for making them unique and special. Of all their albums, II is where he's on display most. Where would Ramble On be without Jones? Nowhere.

Yes (Chris Squire) - The obvious choice is Fragile with one of the worlds most recognized bass lines (Roundabout) as well as Fish. That said, one could just as easily go with the lesser know Relayer and the insane bass display in Sound Chaser.

I'm just going to assume you've already got some Geddy Lee lined up Cool

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Fischman wrote:

You've probably got far more guitar suggestions than you can digest for this diary, at least in the short term, so I'll leave that alone even though I do have some favorites I think worthy of mention.

Drum suggestion: Billy Cobham - Spectrum. Best of both worlds; expressive and virtuoso. Cobham is in a class of his own.

Bass suggestions:
The Who (John Entwistle)- Quadrophenia. Actually just about any Who album will do, but IMO, Quad is the one where Entwistle really sets the mood (on some cuts--it is a double). The Real Me drops my jaw each and every time.

Blackfoot (Greg T. Walker) - Flyin' High. Here's my unknown suggestion. Blackfoot always had a great rhythm section with Walker on bass and Jackson Spires on drums--in fact, go ahead and make this album a drum selection as well! But Walker is fairly kept in the background for most Blackfoot albums. However, I really nails it on Flyin' High. This is very energetic bass riffing and, more importantly, really propels the music. Key cuts are the title cut, Dancin' Man, and Madness.

Black Sabbath (Geezer Butler) - Heaven and Hell. Forget about the Ozzy vs. Dio debate and just listen to the bass. Wishing Well in particular stands alone in the annals of heavy rock bass.

Iron Maiden (Steve Harris) - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Harris is often cited as the class of heavy metal bassists, but he does rely on the "galloping" bass line too much. This is the album where he demonstrates some real versatility, especially on Infinite Dreams.

Led Zeppelin (John Paul Jones) - II. Again, most any Zep album will be something of a bass tour de force. In fact, I would argue that Jones is as essential, if not more so, than any other (more famous and acclaimed) member of Zep for making them unique and special. Of all their albums, II is where he's on display most. Where would Ramble On be without Jones? Nowhere.

Yes (Chris Squire) - The obvious choice is Fragile with one of the worlds most recognized bass lines (Roundabout) as well as Fish. That said, one could just as easily go with the lesser know Relayer and the insane bass display in Sound Chaser.

I'm just going to assume you've already got some Geddy Lee lined up Cool

Thank you for reminding me of Cobham (and of course John McLaughlin/Mahavishnu Orchestra by extension!). Yes he certainly needs inclusion.

The rest will all be considered and some revisited as necessary. They each have a good shot Smile

Excellent points on Jones that Ill take into account as I revisit Zep, including II.

Sorry to disappoint, but Im not a big enough fan of Geddy Lee's vocals to add him (though I do like him -- probably best when he picks his spots such as 2112). I dont plan on adding him ... I suppose its not totally out of the question for one his best to maybe sneak in there ... though still unlikely

EDIT: I realized you were probably referring to Geddy Lee more for the bassist list. In which case, Ill consider that recommendation as I revisit some RUSH -- mainly for Peart but I'll consider Lee a bit more closely (havent listened to RUSH much in the last 10 years so, outside of a brief revisit of a few albums last year, theyre not as close to mind as many others).
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PurpleHazel

Drums:

Bitches Brew - Miles Davis (Jack DeJohnette, Lenny White)
Miles Smiles - Davis (Tony Williams)
Spiritual Unity - Albert Ayler (Sunny Murray)
Jazz at Massey Hall (live) - The Quintet (Max Roach)
Trout Mask Replica - John "Dumbo" French
Jack Johnson - Miles Davis (Jack DeJohnette)
The Inner Mounting Flame - Mahavishnu Orchestra (Billy Cobham)
Free for All - Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers
The Meters - The Meters (Zigaboo Modeliste)
Free Jazz - Ornette Coleman (Ed Blackwell, Billy Higgins)
Naked City - John Zorn (Joey Baron)
Dancing in Your Head - Ornette Coleman (Ronald Shannon Jackson)
Emergency! - Tony William's Lifetime

Electric/Acoustic Bass:

Mingus Presents Mingus - Charles Mingus
8:30 (live) - Weather Report (Jaco Pastorius)
Sunday at the Vanguard - Bill Evans (Scott LaFaro)
A Love Supreme - John Coltrane (Jimmy Garrison)
On the Corner - Miles Davis (Michael Henderson)
Head Hunters - Herbie Hancock (Paul Jackson)
Mothership Connection - Parliament (Bootsy Collins)
Before and After Science - Brian Eno (Percy Jones)
Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius
Dancing in Your Head - Ornette Coleman (Jamaaladeen Tacuma aka Rudy McDaniel)
Catch a Fire - The Wailers (Aston "Family Man" Barrett)
Trout Mask Replica (Mark Boston)
The Meters - The Meters (George Porter Jr.)
Stand! - Sly and the Family Stone (Larry Graham)
Memory Serves - Material (Bill Laswell)
Unorthodox Behavior - Brand X (Percy Jones)

Know you've heard most of these albums already, but better to be a little redundant now than grumble (to myself) later.

Never recced any vocalists, so just a few:

There's a Riot Goin' On - Sly and the Family Stone (Sly Stone)
Innervisions - Stevie Wonder
Disco Volante - Mr. Bungle (Mike Patton)
Live at the Apollo - James Brown (the first one; the LP that convinced record companies that R&B albums were commercially viable)
Karma - Pharoah Sanders (Leon Thomas)
Lady in Satin - Billie Holiday

Fischman
RockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMaster

Gender: Male
Location: Land of Enchantment

Just for fun, my list of favored female vocalists.

Julie Anderson
Shirley Bassey
Pat Benetar
Diane Birch
Laura Branigan
Maire Brennan
Karen Carpenter
Petula Clark
Patsy Cline
Jane Crowe

Doris Day
Connie Dover
Sheena Easton
Mary Fahl
Samantha Fish
Ella Fitzgerald
Aretha Franklin
Dana Fuchs
Courtney Hale
Karine Hannah

Billie Holliday
Etta James
Floor Jansen
Shirley Jones
Sass Jordan
C.R. Keyser-Posner
Eartha Kitt
Dale Krantz
Amy Lee
Maria McKee

Lorena McKennitt
Liza Minelli
Stevie Nicks
Triona NiDhomnaill
Ana Popovic
Elize Ryd
Cristina Scabbia
Shakira
Holly Sherwood
Grace Slick

Dusty Springfield
Koko Taylor
Tarja Turunen
Sarah Vaughan
Dinah Washington
Katie Webster
Florence Welch
Ann Wilson