Best musician in the world?

I agree with Bmpnyc in theory anyhow. Quincy has done all of those things. However, Frank Zappa has also accomplished these things. I do not believe he was the most talented guitar player, but he was a brilliant conductor, producer, mentor (some very famous musicians got their start with the Mothers, eg. Steve Vai and Adrian Bellew), and arguably the greatest contempory composer of the 20th century. Is musicianship the ability to perform the music or conceptualize it? I think that Kacz's comments regarding how Neil Peart makes him feel when he listens to the music are very relevant (BTW - don't underestimate Peart's technical talent). As an example, Steve Vai is undeniably a better technician than Jerry Garcia, but I would rather listen to Jerry's guitar solo in Unbroken Chain (Mars Hotel) than hear Vai deedle-deedle-deedle away at a thousand passionless notes per second. I tend more towards the artists vision than execution or ability to play several instruments. In that light, Woodman's choices of Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix, moreso, are very compelling. By creating Modal Jazz, Miles Davis did more for the evolution of Jazz than anyone had in a long time. Miles was also a great musician. Hendrix did more for the evolution of contemporary electric guitar than Chuck Berry. Additionally, Hendrix was an exceptional guitar player. But in that light, there are many others whose efforts have created new and interesting evolutions in music. How do you determine which one is more relevant than the other?

Timwat, have you ever heard Victor Wooten, bass player from Bela Fleck? Also, I gotta agree with you on the Pat Metheny front, he's pretty amazing. But when making a laundry list of guitarists lets not forget John McGlaughlin and Stanley Jordan.

Timwat, check out Birds of Fire or Inner Mounting Flame by the Mahavishnu orchestra. Some great music. Not necessarily rooted in the 1000 notes per second highly technical sound McGlaughlin's known for. Speedy, but some really moving and emotional passages. Bela Fleck has a great older solo album (you have to like that kind of jazz) call Songs from an Accoustic Planet which features many contemporary artists including Chick Corea among others. You can hear Wooten's influence on every Bela/Flecktones album. I prefer their newer albums - something about the melodies are more appealing. Wooten also has a solo album which I have not heard. I saw Fleck/Flecktones in concert and was amazed at Wooten's solo rendition of Amazing Grace on the bass. Goosebumps. If you like the old McGlaughlin sound, Larry Coryells is another great sounding guitarist. I saw him live in NYC at the Blue Note. It blew my mind. You're right about Dianna Krall. Outstanding voice. Every recording sounds like she's performing in your living room. There is a program on every Friday night called Sessions at 54th street (hosted by John Hiatt) where she played a 1 hour set - outstanding. My only gripe is that they make her out to be a sexy jazz diva and she has that weird looking squiggy eye expression. What I'd like to see is a collaberation, like a dueling piano type thing, with her and Harry Connick Jr.