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
Comments
Eddie Van Halen
Bjorn and Benny
Jellyfish
Neil Finn
George Gershwin.
Adrian Belew
John McLaughlin
Hendrix
All massive innovators and true geniuses.
Django
Pat Metheny
Keith Jarrett
Edgar Meyer
Tony Levin
There are many many brilliant jazz musicians
So yeah, that.
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
There have been other musical geniuses, but I don’t know of any others who wrote their greatest work when they were completely deaf.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
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
Marcus Miller
Eric Roche
Ennio Morricone
Karl Jenkins
Jonny Cash
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
guthrie govan
h j freaks
michael manring
kate bush
prince
allan holdsworth
apologies that some already mentioned
Might I also add Cole Porter
Brian Wilson.
Kate Bush.
Johnny Marr.
Paul Epworth.
Frank Black.
Vince Clarke.
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.