# Best non classical instrumental soloists?



## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Anyone who can play an instrument really well and not in a strictly classical style. Professional or youtube amateur.

Victor Wooten is pretty awesome





And back when I was really into Mandolin and classic rock, I liked this guy a lot





Danny Gatton, amazing 80s guitarist


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Oscar Peterson
Pete Fountain


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Well, you took Victor from me!...I'd say, Vassar Clements, David Grisman, David Gilmore, Joe Satriani, Les Claypool, Stuart Copeland, Mitch Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Ray Manzerik,...really, this list can end up looking like a dictionary!...I just woke up and am still foggy so I'll just keep it here for now...until more pop into the ol' cabeza.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Art Tatum


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

@ kv466

Youtube links please!


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Ask and you shall receive:

*This one highlights two of the ones I wrote; Vassar on the fiddle and Dawg Grisman on the mandolin*




Not to mention Jerry Garcia on the banjo, John Kahn on the bass and Peter Rowan at the guitar

*Here's Les Claypool who has been in many projects but having seen them 6 times, I'll go with Primus as Tim Alexander and Larry Lalonde are pretty amazing musicians as well*





*I didn't put Steve Vai but he pretty much makes the guitar do what he wants it to*





I'm sure I'll be posting more on this thread as this list is truly endless!


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

Wayne Shorter, Andrew Hill, Eric Dolphy, Sonny Rollins... Mostly the jazz I like, I guess.

I tend to hate guitar solos. They're usually irrelevant to the overall mood of the song, if not blatantly phallocentric/overcompensating diversions. When I hear Malmsteen, Necrophagist, or anything like that, I'm just like "ok, those sure are some fast guitar sounds" with my eyes glazed over.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

'Old and In the Way'. Some of the old songs throw daggers. That old codger in the chimney corner can't be the daddy of both the husband and the wife. One of them is going to find him 'in the way' any time he leaves the corner.

Flatt and Scruggs used to do that song, and 'Over the Hill To the Poor House', wherein the old codger got booted out of the house he built. I wonder if those songs ever shamed any struggling family into putting up with that old codger.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I've always thought these were pretty good. The Scotty Anderson (bad quality recording but insane playing) and Tim Reynolds are definitely the most virtuosic. You'll have to skip ahead on the DotN and Dave Matthews videos to a few minutes in if you just want to hear the solos.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I almost forgot:


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

If we're talking of great musicianship on guitar i'd go with Robert Pete Williams, Lenny Breau, Ed Bickert, D'Gary.

If we are instead talking of sheer virtuosism there are tons of guitarists considering the different techniques, Scotty Anderson (his double stops are crazy: probably the most technically accomplished guitarist i've ever seen, and no, i'm not talking of scott henderson) , Albert Lee, D'Gary and his amazing fingerpicking, Joe Maphis, Danny Gatton, Allan Holdsworth (legato), Wayne Krantz, Sabicas, Grisha Goryachev, Jerry Donahue (bending), Raphael Rabello, Stanley Jordan (tapping), Guthrie Govan, Tiago della Vega(alt.picking), Ben Lacey (slap), Tuck Andress (walkin bass lines), Lenny Breau (harmonics and a lot of other things, probably the most complete of all), Jimmy Bruno, Martin Taylor, Joe Pass, Tommy Emmanuel, Antoine Dufour, Ed Bickert, Ted Greene etc.

There's plenty of outstanding virtuosos, even unknown like this guy





but to be a virtuoso doesn't mean automatically to be a great musician (and many guys in this list aren't)


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

norman bates said:


> If we are instead talking of sheer virtuosism there are tons of guitarists considering the different techniques, *Scotty Anderson* (his double stops are crazy: probably the most technically accomplished guitarist i've ever seen, and no, i'm not talking of scott henderson) ,


A lot of great names you listed there, I really agree about Lenny Breau and since you and I both have mentioned Scotty Anderson, and Danny Gatton has been brought up twice, I would drop the name Brian Setzer in there as well. Just an incredibly tasteful player with a good amount of skill as well. Since I'm not a huge jazz guy I left that to others, but since nobody has mentioned Django Reinhardt yet...Django Reinhardt.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

tdc said:


> A lot of great names you listed there, I really agree about Lenny Breau and since you and I both have mentioned Scotty Anderson, and Danny Gatton has been brought up twice, I would drop the name Brian Setzer in there as well. Just an incredibly tasteful player with a good amount of skill as well. Since I'm not a huge jazz guy I left that to others, but since nobody has mentioned Django Reinhardt yet...Django Reinhardt.


Django was incredibly gifted considering his phisical limits and considering the period, but just from a technical point of view i would not put him with the greatests. I think that a jazz guitarist not well known as Bill De Arango was far more technical than him. Brian Setzer is an amazing virtuoso for sure


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

For me a lot of what I like in guitar players (especially outside of classical music) goes past simple virtuosity. Certain players just have a tastefulness, creativity and artistic flair I really appreciate. I've always been enamored of players like Jonny Marr of The Smiths, Omar Rodriguez Lopez of The Mars Volta, and The Edge from U2 for these qualities.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Phil Woods consistently knocks me out; he can play anything he wants to. One time he even stuck a tone row into the bridge of Honeysuckle Rose. I mean, really?


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

You can't mention "best" without throwing in Warne Marsh, mixing it up here with the equally stellar Lee Konitz.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

Esbjorn Svensson, Dave Brubeck and Thelonious Monk--piano geniuses!


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)

Skip to 4:01


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Buddy Rich, possibly the best drummer there ever was


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Great song and solo by Stevie Ray Vaughan.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Well, I'm stuck in 70's progressive rock I guess. Though he's a bit of a clown, I'm still in awe of Rick Wakeman.






Recently I'm in awe of Billy Sheehan on bass.






Mahavishnu John McLaughlin has always been in the upper pantheon of guitarists for me.






Like some of the others, I could go on and on, but I won't bore you further until later.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

clavichorder said:


> Buddy Rich, possibly the best drummer there ever was


he was fast, but i would not absolutely put him on the same level of great musicians like tony williams, roy haynes, billy higgins, max roach, etc. It really seems that this topic must be intended only like "who is the musicians with the greatest technique"? So why buddy rich and not mike mangini.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

norman bates said:


> he was fast, but i would not absolutely put him on the same level of great musicians like tony williams, roy haynes, billy higgins, max roach, etc. It really seems that this topic must be intended only like "who is the musicians with the greatest technique"? So why buddy rich and not mike mangini.


That's just a solo, he's a big band drummer. I'll admit that I don't know as much about his work with big bands, and I will admit that his style is limited but his musicality is great within his narrower style. Post links of drummers you like. I really like Keith Moon (though he's less big on the big solos and more into just being wild within the songs), and here's a video with him that also showcases the bassist abilities of John Entwistle a bit, great classic rock bassist




and John Bonham


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Cool Shamisen duet


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

The Genius of Lenny Breau:






Here is another mind blowing clip of Scotty Anderson:


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

clavichorder said:


> That's just a solo, he's a big band drummer. I'll admit that I don't know as much about his work with big bands, and I will admit that his style is limited but his musicality is great within his narrower style. Post links of drummers you like. I really like Keith Moon (though he's less big on the big solos and more into just being wild within the songs), and here's a video with him that also showcases the bassist abilities of John Entwistle a bit, great classic rock bassist
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

A lot of these posts show guitars with knobs on 'em.

*Shame*


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Hilltroll72 said:


> A lot of these posts show guitars with knobs on 'em.
> 
> *Shame*


Okay, so...this is where you're missing your 'sarcasm' smiley, right??...hah...I sure hope so because if electric, the more knobs and good wiring the better tonal possibilities and thus all kinds of sounds can come out of the same instrument...knobs on guitars are good!


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

kv466 said:


> Okay, so...this is where you're missing your 'sarcasm' smiley, right??...hah...I sure hope so because if electric, the more knobs and good wiring the better tonal possibilities and thus all kinds of sounds can come out of the same instrument...knobs on guitars are good!


A lot of good sounds. Chet and Doc played different instruments that had the same name: 'guitar'. The guitarist whose recordings I most enjoy hearing was named Yepes, but I dig out one of those other guys now and then, when memories of a friend point me at them.

It's all good.


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## jurianbai (Nov 23, 2008)

John Petrucci of Dream THeater, Vai, Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Vinnie Moore, Guthrie Govan (ex Asia), Frank Gambale are favorite soloist of metal guitarist. Still got many obscure names behind that recorded one or two guitar solo album eg, Christian Muenzner, Kiko Loureiro, etc.

Tommy Emanuel also amazing acoustic guitarits.


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## eruption (Oct 11, 2011)

Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Jason Becker. Becker is simply amazing. He was, in my opinion, one of the best guitarists ever. He lost his ability to move and speak from a muscular disease but he still composes music. Check out "Air", "Altitudes", "Mabels Fatal Fable", and "Perpetual Burn." Air is brilliant.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

My all time favorite guitarist (and vocalist):


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Oh and here is my favorite female guitarist and vocalist:


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)




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