My Favorite Musicians

Anybody who knows me knows I get pretty excited about music, especially jazz, but also other stuff at times. Today, I decided to make a list of all the musicians who have really made me love music at one time or another over the last 15 years. Someday, maybe I'll fill this in with legitimate reasons. Suffice it to say that if you pick any one of these people, I could probably go on for at least an hour about why human beings should listen to nothing but that particular person's music.

By the way, I'm counting only musicians who I don't know personally. Actually, I know some musicians whose music I enjoy more than some of these more famous people, but I didn't want to make this too personal.

Which genre do I love the most? It totally depends on the day. At the moment, I'm on a vibes kick. A few weeks ago, I was listening to a capella 16 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Piano

  1. Dick Hyman
  2. Dave Brubeck
  3. Peter Mintun
  4. Oscar Peterson
  5. Dave McKenna
  6. George Shearing
  7. Horace Silver
  8. John Lewis
  9. Bill Evans
  10. Bobby Timmons
  11. Chick Corea
  12. Benny Green
  13. Jay McShann
  14. Jacques Loussier
  15. Jessica Williams
  16. Ray Bryant
  17. Red Garland
  18. Wynton Kelly
  19. Erroll Garner
  20. Fats Waller
  21. Vince Guaraldi
  22. George Cables
  23. Junior Mance

Vibes

  1. Dave Pike
  2. Gary Burton
  3. Matthias Lupri
  4. Milt Jackson
  5. Cal Tjader
  6. Steve Nelson
  7. Terry Gibbs
  8. Red Norvo

A Capella / Vocal Harmony

  1. Real Group
  2. Vocal Sampling
  3. King's Singers
  4. Take 6
  5. Swingle Singers
  6. Voice Trek
  7. Manhattan Transfer
  8. Four Freshmen
  9. Hampton Avenue
  10. Hi Lo's
  11. Zap Mama
  12. Vox P
  13. Fairfield Four
  14. Persuasions
  15. New York Voices
  16. Toxic Audio
  17. Mills Brothers

Jazz Singers

  1. Joe Williams
  2. Ella Fitzgerald
  3. Mel Torme
  4. Frank Sinatra
  5. Nat Cole
  6. King Pleasure
  7. Eddie Jefferson
  8. Richard Cheese

Jazz, in general

  1. Cole Porter (composer)
  2. Scott Joplin (composer)
  3. Charlie Byrd (bossa nova)
  4. MJQ (piano/bass/drum/vibes quartet)
  5. Stan Kenton (big band leader)
  6. Echos of Swing (jazz combo)
  7. Charlie Parker (trumpet)
  8. Chet Baker (trumpet)

World Music

  1. Raul Barboza (bandoneón, chamamé)
  2. Ulfuls (Japanese pop group)
  3. Gospellers (harmony-rich Japanese pop)
  4. Ken Hirai (Japanese pop singer)
  5. Afro Cuban All Stars (Afro-Cuban jazz)
  6. Arte Mixto (Cuban)
  7. Brave Combo (polka and other dance music)

Neo-soul / Funk

  1. James Brown
  2. D'Angelo
  3. Prince
  4. Lenny Kravitz
  5. PM Dawn
  6. Maceo Parker

Last updated 3-22-07