Humanities Greatest Musician (to date)

[SandRider]

John Coltrane






dissent ?

[D Pope]

No, but i'll suggest Claude Debussey as among the runners up.

[TheDukester]

Kylie Minogue?

[SandChigger]

Orpheus?

[A Thing of Eternity]

Greatest Musician is a dead end arguement, someone else is always better at something, it's too broad of a feild for anyone to ever be the best.

Coltrane's damned good though.

[Omphalos]

I kinda liked that Hootie guy.

[Serkanner]

I kinda liked that Hootie guy.

The one with the blowfish?

[Freakzilla]

Prince

No... Liz Phair

[Eyes High]

Harry Connick Jr.

Nat King Cole.

Chopin.

Depends on the genre and the time period.

Jim Croce

Randy Travis

Loretta Lynn

Ella Fitzgerald.

Lina Horne.

[SandRider]

I waffled for years between Mozart & Bach,
then decided Bach was too pretentious to
truly be the "Greatest" - Mozart was such
an extraordinary, unexpected talent -

now, I love Willie Nelson to no end -
if I had to choose a world without either
willie or bourbon, I'd have to drink gin ...

but Willie's importance/contributions in the long-term history
of music pales in comparison to the likes of Coltrane & Mozart

[distrans]

fela kuti...

[georgiedenbro]

SandRider, you should take the God Emperor's word for it that Bach was the ultimate supreme and that Mozart was a super-talented hack.

Hah! The funny thing is I already believed this before I ever read the book and was happy that someone agreed with me. Mozart has been super-trendy in the music and academic words lately so it's pretty uncommon to slam him at all. I think, though, that upon extremely close inspection you might come to realize that Bach's music is in a way totally humble and devotional. Pretentiousness requires others to flatter you, I think, whereas I suspect Bach sat in the basement writing all day and had the music played in Church for the most part, so he wasn't exactly some kind of superstar trying to impress anyone.

[DuckAtreides]

Always thought it was a toss-up between JS Bach and John Coltrane. With Jimi Hendrix coming up a close third ...

YMMV.

[Freakzilla]

Leto's great body trembled through its entire length at this thought. He well
knew the antidote which had always worked before: lose himself for a time in his
own past. Not even the Bene Gesserit Sisters could take such safaris, striking
inward along the axis of memories-back, back to the very limits of cellular
awareness, or stopping by a wayside to revel in a sophisticated sensory delight.
Once, after the death of a particularly superb Duncan, he had toured great
musical performances preserved in his memories. Mozart had tired him quickly.
Pretentious! But Bach . . . ahhh, Bach.
Leto remembered the joy of it.
I sat at the organ and let the music drench me.
Only three times in all memory had there been an equal to Bach. But even Licallo
was not better; as good, but not better.
~GEOD

[Freakzilla]

I like Hendrix' early stuff. The Beatles is my goto

[inhuien]

I've heard it said in cloisters cold that Niccolò Paganini could carry a tune.

[Tom Servo]

If we're talking pure technical skill I'd have to go with former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor or Zeppelin bassist (though he could play pretty much any instrument known to man) John Paul Jones. Neither were very prolific writers though.