i will put any artist above prince because prince like to lift or sample other people licks or grooves and mix it with his own and then claim it. check out sign of the times.

I'll put it this way.

Someone asked me on the phone a month or two ago, what I liked to listen to/who my favorite musician was.

My answer?

"Prince."

Prince

Hendrix

Radiohead

JB

SW

Beastie Boys

Beatles

I've seen all live (before I was 25) but Hendrix and the Beatles - and they were dead and split respectively before I was born. I wonder if the fact that these people blew me away live has cemented their place. On that note, closely following (partly for nostalgia's sake):

John Couger Mellencamp

Eurythmics

1. Michael Jackson

2. Tori Amos

3. Guns N Roses

4. Prince

5. Neil Young

6. Black Sabbath / Ozzy

7. Nine Inch Nails

MLava said:

The Grateful Dead

Van der Graaf Generator

Kiss

Queen

Jethro Tull

The Cure

Prince

Yeah! love them!

1.Prince

then in no order

Whitesnake

Thunder

The Union

Jeff Scott Soto

Aerosmith

Stevie Wonder

ACDC

Foo Fighters

Michael Jackson

Queen

[Edited 6/15/11 0:33am]

wasitgood4u said:

Prince

Hendrix

Radiohead

JB

SW

Beastie Boys

Beatles

I've seen all live (before I was 25) but Hendrix and the Beatles - and they were dead and split respectively before I was born. I wonder if the fact that these people blew me away live has cemented their place. On that note, closely following (partly for nostalgia's sake):

John Couger Mellencamp

Eurythmics

Prince/David Bowie/Neil Young interchangable, so I'll place 'em on level pegging joint 1-3.

Pearl Jam

John Coltrane

Waylon Jennings

Blind Melon

So first I had to determine my criteria. It's not who I think is the best in all cases, or most innovative, or influential. I basically decided I'd rank my top 7 on the basis of who would I give up last and then next to last and so on. #1 is the one guy on a desert island I'd take with me every bit of his music if I would never hear another musician/singer again. And so so.

1. Clifford Brown-The greatest Jazz trumpet player of all time and my all time favorite musician. Oh, you do a poll of Jazz fans who the greatest of all time is and Clifford comes in 4th every time behind Miles and Pops and Diz, in no particular order. But those cats lived to be 70, all of them. Clifford died at 25. You ask Jazz Trumpet players and 85% of them say Clifford and most say it ain't even close.

Dude was just a wonder and a force. Completely harmonically sophisticated, I mean Bach sophisticated, a virtually limitless flow of musical ideas at his disposal, the greatest Musical vocabulary of any Jazz musician who ever lived. Huge, fat tone no matter how high, no matter how fast he played. Dude was one of those rare musicians for whom the instrument provided no barrier between what they heard and what they played.

Oh sure, Pops invented virtually all of American music, and Diz helped those cats at Minton's transform jazz into BeBop and Miles was in on virtually every movement in Jazz for 50 years. But at the end of the day, on stage, one show, a cutting contest, every one of those cats in their prime, Clifford would blow them all completely away and it wouldn't even be close.

2. Billie Holiday-Completely underrated and misunderstood and still would probably win a poll as greatest Jazz singer of all time. People talk about the sadness she infused into the music, and how she did it despite a thin voice. That's just looking at it bass ackwards. Billie's voice was unique, sounding more like a trumpet than a sax. She seemingly had 5 tembre's from which to choose. She was able to sing outside the beat better than anyone who ever lived. Her lack of musical training belies the extreme sophistication of her harmonic sense and she had every emotion in the book, from pathos to ebullience. She could hit a phrase 10 times in a song and enter it differently each time. And above all, her singing seems to me, to completely capture the entirety of the African American Experience from 1619 to now. ALL of of it. The joy, the pain, the sorrow, the raucousness, She sings our story.

3. Prince- I was there at the Roxy in 1979 and I have seen him 20 or so times. IMO the greatest pop musician ever. World class on Guitar and Drums and World Class for pop musicians on Bass and Piano. Incredible song-writer, fine singer and the greatest live performer in Pop history. They called MJ "The King of Pop." That was a joke right?

4. T. Monk-Dissonant, seemingly clumsy, laid off the beat, Country, even though he was raised in NYC. Not a virtuoso, or if he was, barely that. I can name 10 Jazz Pianist who could technically play rings around him-Hey Art Tatum and Bud Powell, shout out to you fellas.

But Monk took all that craziness and made it into not only the Coolest thing in the World, but also the most Coherent thing in the World. And he was completely Monk, uncompromising, not giving a damn what the critics had to say. He was like a Mad professor. And, with apologies to Duke/Strayhorn and Cole Porter, Monk was the greatest composer America has ever produced.

5. Stevie Wonder-The only other pop musician to crack my list. It's easy to forget how great he was but damn, when "Fufillingness First Finale is arguable your Worst album of a decade, you just find it hard to fathom. And unlike some er um, The Beatles, for example, his music sounds today as fresh and undated as it did when he produced it in the 70's.

And for my money "Songs in the Key of Life" was the greatest pop album ever made and "As" the greatest Pop single. And it wasn't even released as a single.

6. Sonny Rollins-IMO, the greatest living musician. Yeah, Bird invented Bop and everything after him has been commenting on him, I get that. And Trane had his thing going on which made him more innovative and more influential, even more important. And Cannonball culd probably play them all under a table. But damn, Sonny turned "I'm an Old Cowhand" into something as cool as the opening drum riff on "Freddie's dead." and then he went out and played with Clifford and wasn't completely outclassed. And even Max Roach couldn't do that.

Man, when Sonny get's going, it's like a force of Nature. ANd I'll say this, you can find Jazz Solo's as good as St Thomas, but you can't find any better save perhaps Clifford's "Night in Tunisia" from "The beginning and the End CD."

7. Sarah Vaughn-yeah, I know, she could strangle a bad song to death. unlike Billie, who made bad songs great and great songs legend. And I know Sarah sometimes had only a passing familiarity with the notion that lyrics actually meant something. But when she flew, think, with Clifford Brown, or "Swinging Easy", man, she was a wonder to behold. And her voice. Let's just get this straight. Sarah Vaughn had the greatest voice in the history of American Music. A full 4 octave range, complete control, like a jazz musician with that voice, Honey and Whiskey all at the same time and the harmonic sophistication of Clifford or Bird. She was just a monster of a singer.

So there it is. My first post here.

Feel free to flame away!

KobeBryantCliffordBrown said:

So first I had to determine my criteria. It's not who I think is the best in all cases, or most innovative, or influential. I basically decided I'd rank my top 7 on the basis of who would I give up last and then next to last and so on. #1 is the one guy on a desert island I'd take with me every bit of his music if I would never hear another musician/singer again. And so so.

1. Clifford Brown-The greatest Jazz trumpet player of all time and my all time favorite musician. Oh, you do a poll of Jazz fans who the greatest of all time is and Clifford comes in 4th every time behind Miles and Pops and Diz, in no particular order. But those cats lived to be 70, all of them. Clifford died at 25. You ask Jazz Trumpet players and 85% of them say Clifford and most say it ain't even close.

Dude was just a wonder and a force. Completely harmonically sophisticated, I mean Bach sophisticated, a virtually limitless flow of musical ideas at his disposal, the greatest Musical vocabulary of any Jazz musician who ever lived. Huge, fat tone no matter how high, no matter how fast he played. Dude was one of those rare musicians for whom the instrument provided no barrier between what they heard and what they played.

Oh sure, Pops invented virtually all of American music, and Diz helped those cats at Minton's transform jazz into BeBop and Miles was in on virtually every movement in Jazz for 50 years. But at the end of the day, on stage, one show, a cutting contest, every one of those cats in their prime, Clifford would blow them all completely away and it wouldn't even be close.

2. Billie Holiday-Completely underrated and misunderstood and still would probably win a poll as greatest Jazz singer of all time. People talk about the sadness she infused into the music, and how she did it despite a thin voice. That's just looking at it bass ackwards. Billie's voice was unique, sounding more like a trumpet than a sax. She seemingly had 5 tembre's from which to choose. She was able to sing outside the beat better than anyone who ever lived. Her lack of musical training belies the extreme sophistication of her harmonic sense and she had every emotion in the book, from pathos to ebullience. She could hit a phrase 10 times in a song and enter it differently each time. And above all, her singing seems to me, to completely capture the entirety of the African American Experience from 1619 to now. ALL of of it. The joy, the pain, the sorrow, the raucousness, She sings our story.

3. Prince- I was there at the Roxy in 1979 and I have seen him 20 or so times. IMO the greatest pop musician ever. World class on Guitar and Drums and World Class for pop musicians on Bass and Piano. Incredible song-writer, fine singer and the greatest live performer in Pop history. They called MJ "The King of Pop." That was a joke right?

4. T. Monk-Dissonant, seemingly clumsy, laid off the beat, Country, even though he was raised in NYC. Not a virtuoso, or if he was, barely that. I can name 10 Jazz Pianist who could technically play rings around him-Hey Art Tatum and Bud Powell, shout out to you fellas.

But Monk took all that craziness and made it into not only the Coolest thing in the World, but also the most Coherent thing in the World. And he was completely Monk, uncompromising, not giving a damn what the critics had to say. He was like a Mad professor. And, with apologies to Duke/Strayhorn and Cole Porter, Monk was the greatest composer America has ever produced.

5. Stevie Wonder-The only other pop musician to crack my list. It's easy to forget how great he was but damn, when "Fufillingness First Finale is arguable your Worst album of a decade, you just find it hard to fathom. And unlike some er um, The Beatles, for example, his music sounds today as fresh and undated as it did when he produced it in the 70's.

And for my money "Songs in the Key of Life" was the greatest pop album ever made and "As" the greatest Pop single. And it wasn't even released as a single.

6. Sonny Rollins-IMO, the greatest living musician. Yeah, Bird invented Bop and everything after him has been commenting on him, I get that. And Trane had his thing going on which made him more innovative and more influential, even more important. And Cannonball culd probably play them all under a table. But damn, Sonny turned "I'm an Old Cowhand" into something as cool as the opening drum riff on "Freddie's dead." and then he went out and played with Clifford and wasn't completely outclassed. And even Max Roach couldn't do that.

Man, when Sonny get's going, it's like a force of Nature. ANd I'll say this, you can find Jazz Solo's as good as St Thomas, but you can't find any better save perhaps Clifford's "Night in Tunisia" from "The beginning and the End CD."

7. Sarah Vaughn-yeah, I know, she could strangle a bad song to death. unlike Billie, who made bad songs great and great songs legend. And I know Sarah sometimes had only a passing familiarity with the notion that lyrics actually meant something. But when she flew, think, with Clifford Brown, or "Swinging Easy", man, she was a wonder to behold. And her voice. Let's just get this straight. Sarah Vaughn had the greatest voice in the history of American Music. A full 4 octave range, complete control, like a jazz musician with that voice, Honey and Whiskey all at the same time and the harmonic sophistication of Clifford or Bird. She was just a monster of a singer.

So there it is. My first post here.

Feel free to flame away!

wow! first post. congrats.

I only read the names in your list. sorry

Nice! I'm the OP and we share 3 out of 7! Unfortunately, you and I are in the minority around here in having an understanding of any music pre-1965!

KobeBryantCliffordBrown said:

2. Billie Holiday-Completely underrated and misunderstood and still would probably win a poll as greatest Jazz singer of all time. People talk about the sadness she infused into the music, and how she did it despite a thin voice. That's just looking at it bass ackwards. Billie's voice was unique, sounding more like a trumpet than a sax. She seemingly had 5 tembre's from which to choose. She was able to sing outside the beat better than anyone who ever lived. Her lack of musical training belies the extreme sophistication of her harmonic sense and she had every emotion in the book, from pathos to ebullience. She could hit a phrase 10 times in a song and enter it differently each time. And above all, her singing seems to me, to completely capture the entirety of the African American Experience from 1619 to now. ALL of of it. The joy, the pain, the sorrow, the raucousness, She sings our story.

4. T. Monk-Dissonant, seemingly clumsy, laid off the beat, Country, even though he was raised in NYC. Not a virtuoso, or if he was, barely that. I can name 10 Jazz Pianist who could technically play rings around him-Hey Art Tatum and Bud Powell, shout out to you fellas.

5. Stevie Wonder-The only other pop musician to crack my list. It's easy to forget how great he was but damn, when "Fufillingness First Finale is arguable your Worst album of a decade, you just find it hard to fathom. And unlike some er um, The Beatles, for example, his music sounds today as fresh and undated as it did when he produced it in the 70's.

Imaginative said:

Nice! I'm the OP and we share 3 out of 7! Unfortunately, you and I are in the minority around here in having an understanding of any music pre-1965!

Having an 'understanding of' and having a 'preference for' are two very different things.... or, at least, they should be.

djThunderfunk said:

Imaginative said:

Nice! I'm the OP and we share 3 out of 7! Unfortunately, you and I are in the minority around here in having an understanding of any music pre-1965!

Having an 'understanding of' and having a 'preference for' are two very different things.... or, at least, they should be.

Perhaps, although it's very difficult for me to imagine someone having a true understanding of Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, etc. without having a VERY strong preference for them.

Unless, of course, you don't have ears.

[Edited 6/16/11 20:37pm]

Imaginative said:

djThunderfunk said:

Having an 'understanding of' and having a 'preference for' are two very different things.... or, at least, they should be.

Perhaps, although it's very difficult for me to imagine someone having a true understanding of Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, etc. without having a VERY strong preference for them.

Unless, of course, you don't have ears.

[Edited 6/16/11 20:37pm]

Huh... It's "very difficult" for you to understand people have different preferences, yet you start a thread asking for people to share their preferences? I'm confused.

How does having a "true understanding of" translate to having a "VERY strong preference for"? Again, for me anyway, "two very different things".

Prince is definately my favorite artist of all time. The rest in no particular order. Sorry, but I don't have a list of seven.

Corinne Baily Rae

Jill Scott

Stevie Wonder

Jimi Hendricks

Led Zeplin

John Mayer

Eryka Badu

The Beatles

Nikka Costa

Janelle Monae

Elton John

Bootsy Collins

P-Funk

Bilal

Prince

Squarepusher/Tom Jenkinson

Frank Zappa

David Bowie

The Beatles

Led Zeppelin

Ozric Tentacles

Michael Jackson/ The Jacksons/5

Stevie Wonder

Marvin Gaye

The Stylistics

Prince

Jimi Hendrix

Aretha Franklin

The Temptations

Sly Family Stone

The Supremes

Earth Wind and Fire

P-Funk

Erykah Badu

Lauryn Hill

Jill Scott

Blue six

Prince

Jazztronik

Little dragon

Esthero

Bjork

Bent

The rurals

Somewhat in that order.

djThunderfunk said:

Huh... It's "very difficult" for you to understand people have different preferences, yet you start a thread asking for people to share their preferences? I'm confused.

How does having a "true understanding of" translate to having a "VERY strong preference for"? Again, for me anyway, "two very different things".

I'm not criticizing preferences. See my signature?

I'm simply saying that these artists are impossible not to like... if you understand the music and are a true, non-discriminating music lover. Unless, of course, you simply have narrow set of preferences, which is fine too.

[Edited 6/17/11 12:59pm]

Imaginative said:

djThunderfunk said:

Huh... It's "very difficult" for you to understand people have different preferences, yet you start a thread asking for people to share their preferences? I'm confused.

How does having a "true understanding of" translate to having a "VERY strong preference for"? Again, for me anyway, "two very different things".

I'm not criticizing preferences. See my signature?

I'm simply saying that these artists are impossible not to like... if you understand the music and are a true, non-discriminating music lover. Unless, of course, you simply have narrow set of preferences, which is fine too.

[Edited 6/17/11 12:59pm]

ahhh, but you only asked for 7. Perhaps some of us have "true understanding" of the artists you mentioned, but only prefer them in our top 20 or top 50, but not our top 7?

"narrow set of preferences"? why ascribe a negative reason behind opinion? seems strange to me.

I listed Willie Nelson & Ice-T myself, not narrow at all.

Sorry, this is tiring. I like and believe I "understand" the artists you were discussing. Not top 7 or 10, but great artists regardless. I butted in to your conversation to object to your statement that not sharing your list of faves suggested a lack of understanding of them. I find this idea ridiculous so I disputed. Now you attribute having a "narrow set of preferences" as an alternative reason for disagreeing with you. I find this idea equally ridiculous. But, this conversation is tired, so...

[Edited 6/17/11 15:00pm]

djThunderfunk said:

Imaginative said:

I'm not criticizing preferences. See my signature?

I'm simply saying that these artists are impossible not to like... if you understand the music and are a true, non-discriminating music lover. Unless, of course, you simply have narrow set of preferences, which is fine too.

[Edited 6/17/11 12:59pm]

ahhh, but you only asked for 7. Perhaps some of us have "true understanding" of the artists you mentioned, but only prefer them in our top 20 or top 50, but not our top 7?

"narrow set of preferences"? why ascribe a negative reason behind opinion? seems strange to me.

I listed Willie Nelson & Ice-T myself, not narrow at all.

Sorry, this is tiring. I like and believe I "understand" the artists you were discussing. Not top 7 or 10, but great artists regardless. I butted in to your conversation to object to your statement that not sharing your list of faves suggested a lack of understanding of them. I find this idea ridiculous so I disputed. Now you attribute having a "narrow set of preferences" as an alternative reason for disagreeing with you. I find this idea equally ridiculous. But, this conversation is tired, so...

[Edited 6/17/11 15:00pm]

I really didn't mean it as an insult to you or anyone.

It was just an off-handed remark in general, that the majority of orgers don't seem to be interested in classic Jazz, Swing or Be Bop. It was actually more of a general observation, than even a reference to this particular thread.

I didn't mean that he and I were the only ones into classic jazz, just that we seem to be in the minority.

[Edited 6/18/11 7:15am]

aardvark15 said:

wasitgood4u said:

Prince

Hendrix

Radiohead

JB

SW

Beastie Boys

Beatles

I've seen all live (before I was 25) but Hendrix and the Beatles - and they were dead and split respectively before I was born. I wonder if the fact that these people blew me away live has cemented their place. On that note, closely following (partly for nostalgia's sake):

John Couger Mellencamp

Eurythmics

????

wasitgood4u said:

aardvark15 said:

????

I took it as, "James Brown really cuts through this banging shit. He hits it in the head and makes you bob yours horizontally."

[Edited 6/18/11 14:07pm]

Michael Jackson

Prince

Janet Jackson

Phil Collins

Stevie Wonder

Jamiroquai

Robbie Williams

So Prince is my #2 but very close to MJ since I consider them as both parts of a mini-wheat.. MJ being the plain side, and Prince being the frosty side

Imaginative said:

wasitgood4u said:

????

I took it as, "James Brown really cuts through this banging shit. He hits it in the head and makes you bob yours horizontally."

[Edited 6/18/11 14:07pm]

Oh that JB....... James Brown is awesome I thought by JB u meant Bieber!

MY TOP 7

Prince

Janet Jackson

Lady Gaga

Tina Turner

Eddie Money

Adele

tie between MJ and James Brown

I'm 18 btw lol.....

My other favourite artists are either something that would inspire Prince, or the other way around...

I never rank my favourite bands/artists, but Prince has easily been put on top because of his wide variety in material that appeals to me in different ways, plus his musical ability and attitude...

but some of my other favourites are...

OutKast (Andre 3000) - these two changed my life in my youth, made me start making music

Madlib - when I got tired of the industry pop shit, I started listening to music from Stones Throw, damn these are some talented cats. MF Doom being worth a mention too

Parliament - fathers of alot of my favourite music

Cee-Lo - this man has an angelic voice,

James Brown - made me want to be a singer, dancer, show man. He had some serious energy and SOUL

Miles Davis - woke me up after almost stopped believing in music in a sad day in music industry

Dudley Perkins - primitive naivistic genious poetry music

Michael Jackson - an early influence

Prince is my absolute favourite, something that would be hard to change. OutKast was my absolute favourites. Madlib is one I respect more than I listen to. Parliament and James Brown gave birth to Prince and hip hop. Cee-lo is just my shit.

aardvark15 said:

1. Prince/Michael Jackson/Janet Jackson

2. Marvin Gaye

3. Lady Gaga (Don't judge!)

4. Madonna

5. R.Kelly

6. Elton John

7. James Brown/Stevie Wonder/Jimi Hendrix

I could get down with this playlist.

Prince

Pink Floyd

Type O Negative

Opeth

Duran Duran

Slayer

The Cure

Prince

Rick James

The Barkays

Cameo

Lakeside

Roger and Zapp

Con Funk Shun