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Mine is Berili Lagrene-cant see him having to learn scales/modes. Great technique and can play in any genre with with style. Just great!
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03-05-2013 05:37 PM
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Rosenwinkel seems to keep getting better, if that's possible. He's not my favorite, but I don't think I respect any guitarist more than him today.
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As far as jacks of many trades, Birelli's hard to beat...honestly, the only time he really sounds at home to me is on the gypsy stuff.
But personally, I prefer specialists.
There's lots of cats I dig, but Mike Moreno, Nir Felder, and Julian Lage have me on the edge of my seat the most...well, them and Lage Lund too, but Lund is more like sit back and enjoy, while those other three make me just NEED to pick up a guitar. Maybe that makes Lund most complete in my mind...great combo of chops and taste.
Oh, Matt Stevens is another cat who really has it going on.
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That's easy Pat Metheny. No other jazz guitarist has done as much as he has, and to the level that he has. He manages to be both commercially successful with his PMG, and still be able to play some of the most amazing straight ahead jazz ever heard on guitar. He's composed probably hundreds of original compositions (this is no easy task, try it!). He's been gigging nonstop since like the age of 14 for the last 44 years. He has all the respect of his musician peers and industry insiders as evidenced by his 20 grammy awards. He gets to play with all the best jazz musicians! He's also a bit of a philanthropist, having created a music foundation that helps young musicians with music scholarships, and he's also involved with an environmental non-profit. I mean, I could keep going and going. The man has accomplished amazing things in his lifetime, which is why it surprises me when people on these forums make negative comments about him, or have never listened to his trio recordings because they didn't like the PMG recordings (which are completely different than the trio recordings). He's definitely my musical role model, but I have no intention of trying to copy him! Infact I've never even learned a Pat Metheny lick, even though I've been listening to him for like 15 years now.
And btw, Bireli is also one of my favorite guitarists, and so is John Mclaughlin, Paco de Lucia, Al Dimeola, Stochelo Rosenberg, Kurt Rosenwinkle, Pat Martino, Joe Pass. I like a lot of classical guitar players too! I'm not really into arguing about "who is the best", but I think you can't really find another guitar player, especially jazz guitar player, who has accomplished as much as Pat.Last edited by Guitarzen; 03-05-2013 at 06:20 PM.
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Metheny. I don't think anyone even comes close for "most complete". He has like 6 different signature sounds and approaches for performing on the guitar, all of them top-notch (his archtop sound, synth guitar, nylon string, strummy 12-string, million-string-whatsitcalled), he's written a host of great tunes that I regularly hear other musicians cover, he has reinvented his sound time and time again, pioneered new styles of music, new engineering and arranging techniques. He basically created a new school of jazz and guitar playing. Pat is the man.
I'd put McLaughlin up there with all of the pioneering work he's done, too, though I don't see him as being quite as versatile on the instrument.
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Bireli.
If there was ever any doubt check out the new stuff he does on strat in an organ trio setting adding rock blues influences and neoclassical.
He masters gypsy jazz, fusion, bebop and modern jazz as well. I can't think of a more versatile guitarist.
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I like Adam Rogers.
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Julian Lage is just amazing.
But I still cant get away from listening to Marc Ribot most of the time (i think he may hate being called a super guitarist though!)
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+1
Originally Posted by henryrobinett
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I'm still struggling to understand how artists can be evaluated on a criterion like versatility: this is a selling point usually applied to things like kitchen blenders :-)
But as we're on the topic of Bireli, I was absolutely gobsmacked (speechless) when I first saw him on youtube, not only by his virtuosity but by his musicality: of course he grew up with, for example, Pat Metheny as an influence; and Pat grew up with McLaughlin as an influence, and he grew uo with Miles Davis etc etc.
This morning I watched McLaughlin and Bireli performing a Coltrane tune together, both acoustic, really great stuff.
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For me it"s-
- Louis Stewart, awesome stuff with George Shearing and Benny Goodman on youtube.
- Martijn Van Iterson,"The Whole Bunch" is fantastic for the warm archtop sound.
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For me it's Julian Lage. There's an artistic depth and maturity which I don't find often in other guitar players.
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Another vote for Metheny
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Originally Posted by henryrobinett
Another vote for Adam Rogers and I also like Lage Lund and Jonathan Kreisberg.
I had trouble deciding who to select because spending so many years around the studio scene on both sides of the glass when I see "complete guitarist" I think of studio players who have to do it all then were great live players too like Larry Carlton and earlier guitarists like Barney Kessel.Last edited by docbop; 03-06-2013 at 11:30 AM.
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I guess it would depend on your definition of 'complete'. We would probably each have our own definition of that word in this context.
Anyway...
I'd think it would have to be Kurt. He is arguably the most important guitarist, and possibly jazz musician, of the last 20 years for a reason. He can bridge the gap between Allan Holdsworth and George Van Eps, has introduced a much-copied sonic pallete to jazz guitar, has a unique compositional approach, has hooks into jazz, rock, r&b, and rap. The guy played with Steely Dan, the Roots, and Q-tip!
If you have listened through is discography or seen him live, it can be almost overwhelming.
If you have stepped foot on a college campus in the last 10 years, you'd hear how much he has influenced the next gen of musicians across multiple instruments.
He is a complete player in terms of technique, an original composer, a bandleader, etc. He is also a gifted presenter of information as evidenced by his zillions of utube masterclass videos (and I assume by his heading the guitar dept at a music school).
He is really freakishly good.
And like someone mentioned, he keeps getting better. I think when he drops his solo guitar recording soon, you'll see solo guitar become a must-have skill in younger players.
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Jack Wilkins, he can go so fast then slow it down and it's all cohesive, fluent, & memorable imho; makes me wanna practice.
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Man I dig all these players .... As far as watching a guitarist do the most guitar directions, probably would half to be McLaughlin, and he's not even a jazz player.
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Metheny, that's easy. On sheer chops alone, plus his compositional prowess, imagination musically,
the guy is the real deal. My main inspiration on jazz guitar for sure. We all know he has the jazz
down but he's also ventured into rock, some country kinds of things, guitar synth (and making it work well),
and even collaborated on pop songs with other artists. He's done it all with such mind boggling skill. He's the real deal, the total package in my book.
I definitely enjoy listening to all the cat's play mentioned in this thread though. They all have their own
unique voice and that's cool. Been gettn' into Rosenwinkel lately, quite an imaginative player.
Last edited by Double 07; 03-09-2013 at 01:31 AM.
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Howard Alden.
He can play 20s hot jazz, 30s swing, 40s bebop with authentic feel. Played with Red Norvo, Jack Lesberg and Ruby Braff. Has played duets with George Van Eps, Jack Wlikins, Bucky Pizzarelli, Jimmy Bruno and Ken Peplowski. Soundtracks for Woody Allen. Has recorded interpretations of Bill Evans' music. Single string and chord solo chops. Great accompanist. Can play in any setting: solo, duo, trio, up to big band. Knows a million tunes. Also plays killer tenor banjo.
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I don't see anyone on this list I don't dig 100%, but as far as doing it all...
Scott Henderson and Robben Ford can swing any style hard. I have no doubt that any of these other cats can do it do, but those two actually do it.
I don't think I often have a playlist devoid of Henderson, Ford, Rosenwinkel, and Metheny.
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+1 Originally Posted by monk
Good choice, Monk.
At first, I was thinking of someone along the lines of Bucky Pizzarelli: played with the greats; was an A-list guitarist and done years of studio work in a multitude of styles and settings; great rhythm player, chord melodist (is that a real name for it?), and single line soloist. All of that on 6 and 7 string guitars.
Neither of them may be close to be as influencial or even as well known as some of the other excellent players mentioned above, but if we're talking about being a "complete player", they certainly qualify.
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+1 Originally Posted by henryrobinett
He play great on jazz box and classical guitar.
He feel good any kind of music.Last edited by kris; 03-09-2013 at 03:38 AM.
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I went to one of his master classes. What a truly nice, genuine, humble guy, I have to say. He really plays down the *natural talent* part and amps up the *hard, dedicated work* component. I was surprised that he plays 7 string with a pick, which tells me he must be a hybrid picker. Originally Posted by monk
One take home point I remember from the classes: he tends to avoid the 5th when voicing chords.
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For versatility it's got to be a studio guy. Lee Riteneour comes to mind.
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Well call me stupid, but just listening to jazz guitarists in general without having to put them in all sorts of boxes makes me happy
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