Mr Perch's top ten guitarists
1. Joe Pass ~ I am awarding him first place based on his album of duets with Ella Fitzgerald, "Take Love Easy." He makes his guitar into a virtual orchestra to support Ella, as complete and versatile an accompanying instrument as a piano. Then he also takes unaccompanied solos that are completely and awesomely satisfying. Pass is in a class by himself.
2. Jimi Hendrix ~ much has been written about how Hendrix expanded the sonic vocabulary of the electric guitar, but that's not enough to get him into the number two slot. This award is based soley on a "rubber dubber" bootleg recording made of his live performance at the Haleakala volcano in Maui, where he demonstrated an astonishing gift for improvising lyrical, inventive solos where ideas are sustained and developed over time (unlike many of his other live performances, which were often incoherent.) An added bonus: he demonstrates unheard-of subtlety in the use of the wah-wah pedal.
3. Oz Noy ~ Mr. Noy is the only guitarist I have heard who did a cover of Hendrix tune that didn't sound lame. But there's more -- Oz has developed a remarkable synthesis of electric blues, funk, and bebop that is unique and original. Plus, he has spectacular chops.
4. Robben Ford ~ Robben is always sweetly lyrical, even at his most fiery, and is a paragon of good taste, mixing jazz with traditional blues in the most satisfying way.
5. (tie) Albert King and BB King ~ The two wise Kings. They play the purest, most authoritative blues you could ask for.
6. Mahavishnu John McLaughlin ~ McLaughlin did some of his most bad-ass soloing as a member of one of the greatest performing electric bands ever, the ensemble led by Miles Davis that was captured on the "Live/Evil" release. However, it was later, after McLaughlin "got religion" and became Mahavishnu, that he blossomed into a True Original. His approach to composition, and the use of the guitar in composition, as leader of the Mahavishnu Orchestra produced something that was quite unlike anything that anyone else was doing: rock music hybridized with jazz and Indian classical music. Rock will always be the music of teenage lust and rage, but Mahavishnu produced a new variety that was actually rather intellectual, or at the very least, hard to play. And of course, no one could improvise at supersonic speed over complex syncopation and exotic time signatures like he could. (An honorable mention here goes to Mahavishnu's little buddy Carlos Santana, who was calling himself Devadip Carlos Santana back in the day. He didn't have Mahavishnu's chops, but he had a lot of soul, and his particular rock/blues/latin hybrid is also worthy of recognition.)
7. Eric Clapton ~ Clapton burned out at the end of the '60s, so none of his work thereafter figures into this award. Much of his later work sounds like warmed-over Buddy Guy. But with the Cream album "Wheels of Fire," he set a certain standard, where he took the eloquent logic of his mentor Albert King's style to the next level. Particularly noteworthy are his live tour de force on "Crossroads," and the remarkable sound he got on the studio cut "Sittin' on Top of the World" -- tone color and lyrical phrasing that evoked a jazz trumpet.
8. Larry Carlton ~ Carlton has had a career mainly as a sideman, but created a highly refined and individual style that added real musical interest to albums by Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan and others.
9. (tie) Vince Gill and Brad Paisley ~ Gill is a paragon of lyricism and taste in any genre. Paisley is an up-and-comer with phenomenal chops and musicality. Both of these guys are country players who can play circles around most rock 'n' rollers.
10. Duane Allman ~ Allman was the most potent of the crop of young American white blues players of the 70s. His slide playing was particularly good. Also worthy of mention are Lowell George, Buzzy Feiten, and Stevie Ray Vaughn (who would have been better if he hadn't played way too many notes.)
Honorable mention: The Artist formerly known as the Artist formerly known as Prince ~ who'd have thought that this guy could actually play! But he can!
You may now proceed to Mr Perch's guitar-oriented MIDI compositions.