who do you think are the musical geniuses?

axisus

Personally I wouldn't count amazing players like Gilmour. to me he is an exceptional guitarist, but I wouldn't put him in a 'genius' bracket. Others will probably disagree.

For me, the best candidates are those who were on a different level in terms of what they composed, and for me there are two that spring to mind - Allan Holdsworth and Frank Zappa. 

I still don't think that the world has fully grasped what Allan was doing, and how he played and thought. It's fairly common for a great many internet players to have amazing technique these days, but you don't really see anyone getting to grips with the way Holdsworth played. It seems like a different level of the mind to me, and that is much harder to grasp than learning to play a lot of notes fast.

Zappa as well seemed to thrive on weird compositions that were far off the beaten track. Once again, no-one seems to have come along and managed to mimic his style or take it further.

That's my 2c

RobDavies

Townshend.   

Not the greatest guitarist but the songs, music, lyrics and melodies that he’s written over the past fifty five odd years, take some beating.  

Funkfingers

Frank Zappa compositions are only “weird” in the sense that he did not restrict himself to the expected norms of Rock, Blues, Jazz, Pop or Classical music. 

It is unsurprising that fans of Rock music do not appreciate the Stravinski and Varèse influences.

Listeners unfamiliar with Miles Davis’ album, Bitches Brew, will not spot the sly quotations or parodies of it on One Size Fits All.

Self-evidently, some of the guitarists whom FZ employed are capable of performing the music. Little Stevie Vai is the obvious case in point. Dweezil does a pretty good job of recreating the recorded works. What he does not always manage is the improvisational stuff.

Kebabkid

Becker and Fagen
Eddie Van Halen
Bjorn and Benny
Jellyfish
Neil Finn

Nitefly

Mozart. 

George Gershwin.

boogieman

Robert Fripp
Adrian Belew
John McLaughlin 
Hendrix

All massive innovators and true geniuses. 

markblack

Genius might be too strong. But Damon Albarn i think produces amazing work, from Blur, gorillaz, Mali music, monkey, good the bad and the Queen etc. Some amazing songs in so many styles. I don't like it all, but it always feels interesting.

Winny_Pooh

Allan Holdsworth 
Django
Pat Metheny 
Keith Jarrett
Edgar Meyer
Tony Levin

There are many many brilliant jazz musicians

p90fool

I tend to apply the phrase to musicians whose grasp of composition is unmatched, and then I re-listen to Who Knows from Band of Gypsys in a darkened room and hear someone channelling something from somewhere else entirely.

So yeah, that. 

jonnyburgo

Lee "Scratch" Perry
Beefheart
Zappa
John Coltrane
Miles Davis
David Axelrod
Daniel Johnston
Prince
Beck

Could go on and on really, they were just the first that sprang to mind .All subjective I know but for me, genius is defined by ripping up the rulebook and doing what you were put here to do, I mean you could never imagine Prince working at Poundland eh?  even if I don't necessarily like it myself

ICBM

Beethoven

There have been other musical geniuses, but I don’t know of any others who wrote their greatest work when they were completely deaf.

ronnyb

Ray Davies.

JAYJO

Lennon and McCartney.

guitars4you

I watched the BBC2 show on Sat night about Ella - And someone made a comment that was effectively 'many can sing but they don't all have that magic' - It will apply to various musicians be they play guitar, sing or write

Burt Bacharach can barely play the piano but what a song writer - Porter, Berlin and Gershwin are considered 3 of the greatest song writers, I haven't got my memory notes with me now but I recall one of them can barely play

Rocker

Chopin.
Marcus Miller
Eric Roche
Ennio Morricone
Karl Jenkins
Jonny Cash

racefaceec90

nels cline
 guthrie govan
h j freaks 
michael manring
kate bush
prince
allan holdsworth


apologies that some already mentioned 

Musicwolf

guitars4you said:

Porter, Berlin and Gershwin are considered 3 of the greatest song writers, I haven't got my memory notes with me now but I recall one of them can barely play

It was Berlin

I remember watching a documentary about him.  He could only play in one key and he had a piano whereby he could change key with a lever.

crunchman

Various classical composers:

Beethoven

Mozart

Tchaikovsky  (did I spell that right)

Plus a bunch of others I don't know because of my poor knowledge of classical music

In more recent times:

Mark Knopfler

Freddie Mercury

Willie Nelson

Lennon and McCartney

Jimi Hendrix

Neal Morse

Dominic

ICBM said:

Beethoven

There have been other musical geniuses, but I don’t know of any others who wrote their greatest work when they were completely deaf.

You beat me to it........Favourite Composer by far 
Might I also add Cole Porter 

GavRichList

amazed Brian Wilson hasnt yet been mentioned.

Brian Wilson.
Kate Bush.
Johnny Marr.
Paul Epworth.
Frank Black.
Vince Clarke.

beed84

ICBM said:

Beethoven

There have been other musical geniuses, but I don’t know of any others who wrote their greatest work when they were completely deaf.

Wis' awarded. I'd also add Bach. I came to understand his genius when learning some of his pieces. Seriously, there's not a wasted note and every one of them is perfect. His work is magical.

George Benson and Joe Pass for jazz. Benson turned out not only to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists but also one of the greatest singers. As for Pass, his ability is unrivalled.

Metal wise, I'd have to say Dimebag. He had a certain something that no-one else has created. Brutal riffs and beautiful solos. His ability to play was effortless and soulful, the latter of which is an unlikely term to be associated with the genre.