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Jeff Beck



On the unappreciated side..... Yngwie Malmsteen

Too many to list, but: Billy Joel, Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, Bob James, Willy Porter, Terry Reid, Jimmie Spheeris, etc...

My current favorite from the last ten years or so - Jesse Marchant -

Gotta throw Ren in there.

One of the great things about Youtube and the internet age -- people able to express themselves and their passion. "Disorganized Fun" became the impetus for a young man with such passion carving out a career. The enigmatic and self-proclaimed "socially awkward" (see last minute of video) Ronald Jenkees.

16 years ago, this one blew the lid off the internet:

Probably my favorite solo artist. A song from an album that lands on my "stranded on an island" list. I had this on on my eclipse playlist, timed to be the first song after totality ended.

A tribute to Bach's "Air On A G String" and "Piano Concerto No. 5.

The incomparable Vinnie Moore:






Man, gotta add this one, now that I'm down the rabbit hole. This comment from the vid says it all: "Unequivocally the definitive version of this song. Vinnie elevated a great rock song into a masterful meld of melodic intricacy, virtuosic intensity, and rock accessibility. This version simultaneously elevates the original to a work of art while retaining its visceral intensity. A masterpiece!"



While My Guitar Gently Weeps

I just had to add the one solo artist that did the most to influence the rock and blues music I grew up on. To some extent we owe it all to him..........

This dude…
Everybody knows The Way it Is, or Mandolin Rain. These are warm up songs to a catalog of really incredible music. I’ve seen Bruce a few times over the years. Once very shortly after Jerry Garcia died. Like just a couple of weeks. Bruce took requests all night from the crowd. Allowing us to throw wadded up paper with song requests onto stage. He’d collect them and play the songs he chose. He spent the night playing countless Dead tunes mixed into his own catalog and covers. What really stood out was the banter from his bench. So many incredible stories he told. Many about his time with the Jerry and the Dead.
Its was one of the most memorable nights of live music in my life.

This is Bruce laying it down.

Elton John on piano.

Since we're on the topic of gay piano players, this guy was pretty amazing:

A decent answer. At least it wasn't OJ Simpson.

My wife and I went to see Elton here in Chattanooga maybe 15 years ago... time escapes me at this point.


He did play solo. Just him and his piano. Pretty amazing.

[quote=jfanent]Since we're on the topic of gay piano players, this guy was pretty amazing:

I think they were just talking about a piano player.

I know that country isn't everyone's cup of tea but this was the most influential country artist of all time IMO.

Like this?

My favourite solo artists:

Billy Joel
Springsteen

Since pit got us turned country, I would be remiss without mentioning Patti Loveless and Garth. I would marry Patti tomorrow - right after my quick divorce lol - if she asked me, her voice is angelic.

Matt Mays, a Canadian roots rocker who is virtually unknown in the U.S.
Rod Stewart.
Just a few.

He sure was. I'm not a country fan, but when I have enough to drink at the campfire and whip out my guitar and start strumming "There's a Tear in My Beer", it's a rare individual that isn't singing along by the time I get to "you are on my lonely mind".

This guy…

Keller Williams. I’ve seen him a handful of times over the years at festivals. Sometimes sitting in with bands, or with a backing band, or as a one man band.

If you’ve never seen him do his one man band thing, watch this. It’s impressive.

j/c

Usually, this guy performs as 1/2 of a husband/wife duo known as 'Tuck & Patti.' He also plays 3-set nights as a solo act. Imagine having that much repertoire at your fingertips.

The guy I'm talking about is Tuck Andress.


Guitar fans, check this out. 6 minutes,47 seconds of jaw-dropping prowess. It gets no better than this:

I don't think he's human. There are extra pathways between his fingers and his brain or something. Incredible.

I love how he uses his thumb to walk a bass line on the low e string, while he's comping chords and outlining a melody line, up-top. Three lines at once. One brain that puts all this together.

Watch the left-hand contortions he makes to create those crazy, extended, Jazz-inspired chords.
You can only do stuff like that if you have an encyclopedic understanding of fingerboard topography, the genius to find the notes... and the athleticism to pull off a fast-paced, real time performance like this.

And then... oh, bro- how many different sounds he can create with his right hand: speed-strumming, fingerstyle, half-stopping 'ghost notes'... how he can change the guitar's voice on a dime: from jangly to soft and sweet... and how he can do it on a second's notice. Jaco called it, "Touch. The sound is in the fingers."

This is world-class playing... from someone deserving of wider notice.

When speaking of solo performers I simply couldn't sit by and watch this guy being left out.....

Just one more..... for today.....

Yeah, he doesn't play guitar, he reinvents the damned thing every time he touches it. Ridiculous performance, thanks for posting.

I've been following this brother since we both had no gray hair.
He's never failed to amaze me, since Day One.

One of the deepest blessings of my life has been to have spent my days making 'organized noise' with ppl who have inspired me- heart, mind and soul.
I'm always on the search for those who have dedicated their lives to saying what cannot be expressed through any other art form.

Sound rules my life more than sight (Art Tatum/Stevie Wonder/Ray Charles/Ronnie Milsap).
One of my deepest 'later in life' dreads is losing my ability to hear. Ironic, since I've spent my last 40 years in an environment that subjects my ears to temporary sound pressure levels that approach a jet engine at startup, from a distance of 1,000 feet.

To live like Beethoven, deaf for the last half of his life, would be my personal version of hell on earth. What others express with their music is the thing I live for. It is, and has always been, the center of my soul's existence.

_____________________


I'm thankful that my music-related posts reach others....
... and I'm thankful that you DT posters choose to engage with me about it.

This niche job that I do can sometimes be isolating. Few ppl actually appreciate what we do... especially on the level at which we're required to do it.
I appreciate the support I find at this address.



.02,
clem.

I just wonder who will be in charge of building the wheelchair ramp for the Stones?

Give it time and everybody is going to be in the RR HOF.

Ozzy was voted in as a solo artist this year so I at least give then kudos for that. He had so much success after leaving Black Sabbath and I for one thought the music he did as far superior to his Black Sabbath days. An honor well deserved IMO.



I saw both the Blizzard of Oz and Diary of a Madman tours and I haven't seen anything better musically in my life from a pure R&R standpoint.