The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Who is the best guitarist, or the best drummer, or the best whatever? Competition sucks.



    Last edited by Andy Bartosh; 06-29-2021 at 12:10 AM.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Yamashita = Best Guitarist

    Bach = Best Composer


    With that settled, you can get on with being the best musician you can be.

  4. #3

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    Why all this "Who's best"? Provided they can play and have ideas, they are all good. Why do we have to choose between a rose and a lily. Just enjoy them both.

    If I was to say one thing, it would be that I often miss ballads played with the tenderness and beauty of the old masters where you often couldn't hear where the man ended and the instrument took over. One master of that was Lester Young. Here Lester just gets to play 16 bars of "These foolish things", but those 16 bars cover the whole story.



    Dexter Gordon also managed to put his best foot forwards with ballads like on this moving version of "Body and Soul". First is shown the original TV version, then the same with colorizing and the sound cleaned up for clipping and cracking. Apart from the incredibly high quality of his playing, the close ups on his head and face shows his intense concentration. This is serious, no fooling around. During the piano solo, his movements stay in the tempo. This clip as well as the one above with Lester Young gives me goosebumps even though I have heard them many times.

    Last edited by oldane; 06-28-2021 at 05:29 PM.

  5. #4

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    Possible Answers

    1) God
    2) An alien
    3) Everyone (Infinite timelines, multiverses, etc)
    4) Someone who hasn't been born yet
    5) Lil Wayne

  6. #5

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    CPE Bach was better than JS

    Change my mind

  7. #6

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    Best piano player: Erroll Garner

  8. #7

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    Best shirts: Jimi Hendrix

    Competition sucks-jimi_hendrix_0fff4e01-f740-4721-a967-912592ef439e-jpg

  9. #8

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    Fortunately we live now in an age of data and science, where things can be objectively measured without recourse to antiquated artsy fartsy notions like ‘musicality’ or ‘feeling’. The greatest guitar player is the one that can execute a given set of musical instructions precisely at the fastest tempo. No one cares if the 4th place rider in the Tour ‘d France pedaled with more feeling - he’s just a loser. So without further ado, here is the world’s greatest guitarist:


  10. #9

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    Competition is human nature. That's why sports are so popular, but art and music does not have clear lines for best.
    We do have what sells the most and that usually isn't because if musical talent or skill set.

    Competition for work always will be with us as well. Problem is in music and art there are very few jobs that pay any sort of living wages for great musical or artistic talent any longer. In fact there never were that many to begin with.
    It's just during the 30s,40's 1950s till the IPhone revolution. There were more revenues from sources like music publishing, live performance, t.v.,jingles , etc.

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by BWV
    Fortunately we live now in an age of data and science, where things can be objectively measured without recourse to antiquated artsy fartsy notions like ‘musicality’ or ‘feeling’. The greatest guitar player is the one that can execute a given set of musical instructions precisely at the fastest tempo. No one cares if the 4th place rider in the Tour ‘d France pedaled with more feeling - he’s just a loser. So without further ado, here is the world’s greatest guitarist:

    but does he know any Neil Young?

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by oldane
    Why all this "Who's best"? Provided they can play and have ideas, they are all good. Why do we have to choose between a rose and a lily. Just enjoy them both.

    If I was to say one thing, it would be that I often miss ballads played with the tenderness and beauty of the old masters where you often couldn't hear where the man ended and the instrument took over. One master of that was Lester Young. Here Lester just gets to play 16 bars of "These foolish things", but those 16 bars cover the whole story.



    Dexter Gordon also managed to put his best foot forwards with ballads like on this moving version of "Body and Soul". First is shown the original TV version, then the same with colorizing and the sound cleaned up for clipping and cracking. Apart from the incredibly high quality of his playing, the close ups on his head and face shows his intense concentration. This is serious, no fooling around. During the piano solo, his movements stay in the tempo. This clip as well as the one above with Lester Young gives me goosebumps even though I have heard them many times.

    Dexter is my favorite tenor. And he plays ballads superbly. I dig his signature interweaving of musical quotes, in takes. Here we have chestnuts roasting over an open fire during body and soul.

  13. #12

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    I agree with the dude in the vid. Although I think you can still classify music objectively. For example Elvin Jones would be objectively better at jazz than Ringo. I like both. Or Joe Pass would be objectively better at jazz than Jerry Cantrell. I like both artists. He made a good point that music is like philosophy in that's how it hits you. If you like the message, then that's good, it doesn't matter where it ranges as far as aptitude.

  14. #13

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    You can evaluate someone’s music craft quantitatively, and therefore objectively. There’s nothing wrong with this, and it can be helpful for students for example, setting goals etc. There are requirements for professional work within various areas music based on quantifiable skills; for example, how many standards do you know? How well can you read? How well can you play with a click? Etc

    This is probably why Musos get obsessed with peoples abilities as a musician, or formal complexity or cleverness, sometimes at the expense of subjective enjoyment of the music they are listening to. (Bill Evans had something to say about this.’)

    However anything that’s actually interesting or affecting about music is not quantifiable. Elvin Jones’ swing feel is one of these things.

  15. #14

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    I don't think the worlds fastest guitarist is playing on time with the metronome. Did anyone else watch that?

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Christian Miller
    CPE Bach was better than JS

    Change my mind
    Yikes!

  17. #16

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    Yes, quantifiable was the word I was looking for.