Who is your favorite musician of all time? Why? Sandy B

Billy Joel for the following reasons:

1. I'm from NY
2. I love the diversity of his music
3. Interesting chord progressions
4. His songs tell a story (lyrics and music)
5. Did I mention that I'm from NY?

All this is just IMHO.

Jeez, Sandy, you sure like to ask impossible questions, don't you!?!

My answer to that would probably change daily, depending on my mood, but the top contenders would be:

1.) Mike Oldfield, because his music is beautiful and interesting and ever-changing, and he got me into the wonderful category of new age music way back when I was a teenager.

2.) Mark Knopfler, because the man is an utter GENIUS on the guitar and the most talented lyricist writing songs today.

3.) George Winston, because he writes piano solos of indescribable beauty.

4.) Ludovico Einaudi, ditto, PLUS I can actually play some of his stuff.

Art Blakey

First because I can follow the history of the Jazz Messengers and all of the music is great to me.

Second because I count alumni of the Messengers as among my favorite Jazz artists.

Third, Blakey had a way of seemingly motivating musicians.

Perhaps he may not be seen by some as an artist since he really didn't compose. I find other drummer led groups to be great as well. To me this is the root and I keep going back even when I stray into territory such as Andrew Hill or other Jazz that is not the 'Hard Bop' of Blakey. If I am finding that whatever I have been listening to is getting stale or I just can't get motivated by my current listening, I just go back to Art and the Jazz Messengers.

Mark Knopfler? The same guy that wrote the music for Princess Bride? Have you seen that? Silly movie, good music.

One of my favorites right now is James Horner because he has scored a lot of films I like the music to.

Do-As-Infinity, the greatest band of all time.

In my life, I have never liked any band exclusively. I'm very picky with my music and like to cherry-pick the best songs from different artists. DAI, however, has been the only band to have a discography that fully appeals to me. It's a shame they are broken up now.

As for a single person, I would have to say Nobuo Uematsu.

Thank you for your responses and educating me... some of these names I do not know, but... I will look them up and listen to them on the net. Billy Joel his Piano Man is so fun to play on the piano. Does anyone else love to play this one too? Big favorite here at my assisted living home. George Winston another favorite, I did see him perform live in the early 90's in St. Augustine Florida. Excellent. Leonard Bernstein is my favorite musician and Marvin Hamlisch is close. Never saw Bernstein live, I regret this very much... I have seen Marvin Hamlisch live several times at Wolf Trap and what a thrill. Sandy B

Yup, one and same, although that's not his best work. (He also did the soundtrack to "Local Hero," which is much better imo.) He's best known for being the lead singer/ guitarist/ songwriter for the rock group "Dire Straits." He's been recording solo since they broke up, doing stuff more accurately described as "adult alternative" than rock.

I like James Horner a lot, too. There's a lot of great soundtrack music out there.

Tuan Vo, you've got me very curious. I've never heard of Do-As-Infinity, but tomorrow I will definitely look them up.

Sandy,

I love playing Piano Man - not because it is one of my favorite piano songs to play, but because it seems to be an easy song for people to sing along to - especially in large crowds.

For Jazz, I'd have to say Chick Corea. When you talk about the components of diversity, technique, gorgeous melodies and rhythms, highly complex compositions and knowledge of music, there is no equal. In addition, he has discovered and inspired some of the greatest musicians of our time. People like Al DiMeola on guitar, Dave Weckl and Lenny White on drums, Eric Marienthal on sax and Stanley Clarke on bass all owe their stellar beginnings to Chick.

For rock players, in my opinion, no one comes close the members of the band YES. They are the quintessential virtuoso progressive rock musicians.

In Classical Music, I would have to say my favorite player would be the Slovenian pianist Dubravka Tomsic.

The unknown musician who first hit a taught string with a stick... without which small step we wouldn't have any pianos.. :-)

or maybe the late jazzer Monty Worlock.. who first taught me classical piano but inspired me for a life time.. funnily enough (pun) much of his professional playing was with a comedy band.. "Sid Millward and his Nitwits".. despite his virtuousic technique.. only guy I knew who could play along with Art tatum recordings note for note.. but also memorise a Chopin study by reading it whilst watching cricket..

Ktom thank you for the intro to Monty Worlock. New to me. He sounds wonderful. I will try to find a recording on the net. Art Tatum is a hard act to follow, he was highly textured and fast. Sandy B

The only recording I ever found was of Sid Millward etc on the Bing Crosby show, and I am not sure Monty was with them at this time.. the video isnt clear enough to be sure one way or the other.. I would be fascinated if you found anything else

Monica... what about writing a study book, to be used in colleges etc."Inside the Mind of the Pianist-Piano Players?"It seems in most peoples mind a pianist is a professional. We are piano players? The only person qualified to tell me what he thought about why I play the piano so much was a case worker for Social Services, Child Abuse cases. I was engaged to him, one reason he told me I played piano so often was to escape the real world and stay away from people in general. I am not certain... I think it is my love of music mostly, especially piano music and classical piano was my first love. I admit it is a good excuse to escape unpleasant situations. I just start playing the piano ...Is this a I can get louder than you concept? Anyone else use the piano to vent this way? Sandy B

I would, except that Daniel Levitin already beat me to it with his "This is your brain on music" book. Great book, if you have the time and inclination to read it. He talks about the evolutionary basis for music, and he arrives at a much different conclusion than your social worker friend, who sounds a little too psychodynamic for my taste. I do agree that playing the piano can be a great source of relaxation, escape, and stress relief, but I view it as a pleasant consequence of our playing and not the major cause.

Sorry the book is published I knew you had in you to write Monica. Thank you for the information and I will keep this book in mind on my "must read list" in the near future. I agree my deep love of piano music is my main reason for playing piano.. . Sandy B

Mannyk, Your post telling us you use Piano Man as a sing along has me thinking. I have always played this as a piano solo. I will try this at my assisted living as a sing along. Thank you, Sandy B.

My favorite musician would have to be Jackson Browne. His music just never grows old to me and his lyrics are so poetic. He's a pretty mean piano player too.

Krypt0, Welcome to Piano World as a member. Hope you love it as much as I do as I am addicted to Piano World and the wonderful input by the members, such as your input Krypt0. Jackson Browne, Thank you for sharing and I will look him up and refresh him in my mind, listen and be aware more of him as a talent. The name is really known to me but I just do not know much about him. You educated me and thank you . Sandy B

Favorite musician of all time? Wow, Sandy, that is a tough one. For me it would probably be Count Basie and his orchestra. They were mostly before my time, but I had all their albums as a teenager. I had tickets to see them live in Dallas at a fundraiser for KERA television, but the show was cancelled due to his illness. He passed away shortly afterward, and I never got the chance to see him in person. There are countless others I enjoy, though, from Willie Nelson to Susan Graham (I don't really like opera, but we were at school together and her voice is unbelievable) to Diana Krall to Asleep at the Wheel to Dire Straits to well, you get the idea. I have eclectic tastes.

Tx-Dennis... Count Basie, good for you to appreciate the popular music masters. So sorry you missed hearing and seeing Count Basie live. Willie Nelson is my very favorite, in his style of music. What a genius. Willie Nelson..."The Mozart of Country Music to me." Susan Graham... what school were you in together? Sandy B

I'm with Dennis- I have too many favorites to be able to pick just one. Where any of them falls on the list at any time depends on a lot of things: mood, time of day, what I'm doing, etc. But I'll give you one that is always up there: Bela Fleck. Plays the banjo, but not like any banjo player you may have heard. Bela is the single most amazing banjo player ever. He can play anything- literally. From the "standard" banjo bluegrass to jazz to classical to everything in between. And he plays with a diverse selection of musicians (from Dave Matthews Band to his latest with Chick Corea) as well as his own group, the Flecktones. Awesome musician!

Dear IrishMak, Me too. Mooney is my maiden name.Very Irish indeed. Well, sounds wonderful this banjo player.I will check this out for certain and thank you for your post and the information. My grandmother, mother's mother, was a RN and she played banjo over local radio, she was from Bowling Green , VA., for fun. Her husband , my grandfather by birth, was a classical violinist and he married her, a farm girl, who played banjo. I always found this quite fun and I always laugh when I remember this fact. Odd when I pass a violin I always want to play the violin and do not know how. Sandy B

Elton John
Jackson Brown
Steely Dan
James Taylor
Billy Joel
Bruce

Nowhere impressive, Sandy. We grew up in the same area of town and went to the same schools through high school. I sang a bit as a youngster, too, but wasn't very good.

gotta give a nod to McCartney

Wrote songs that are classics....rock and otherwize. Also one of the best bassists of the era. He also played quite a bit of guitar and piano as well. He could also play drums...and of course, sang. Pretty much the whole bananna!

Good ones. Steely Dan... Bruce... I do not know but all the others are favorites too. Sandy B

It's a toss-up:

Louis Armstrong
Paul McCartney
Brian Wilson
Fats Waller
Bill Evans
Vince Guaraldi
Monica K. (hee hee)