Most sophisticated and intelligent musician

Don't know about moby but his music reflects that to some degree at least compared to the norm these days.

"Kurt Cobain, he did redefine rock and roll."

Not Courtney Love?

She's been looking quite sophisticated of late.

Just kidding. I am a Kurt Cobain fan but am kind of mad at him for not sticking around.

Yes, Chet Atkins ranks up there!

How could I forget The Duke?

Peter Gabriel...good pick also.

I'd toss Tony Banks in there also.

That's at least 3 former Genesis members. Not too shabby....

Add Phil Collins. That's 4 ex Genesis guys!

Robert Fripp or Steve Hackett.

I interpreted the post as asking about traits of the person, not of their music.

So I did not include intelligent musicians that do not come across as sophisticated in general as people, even if I might think their music is sophisticated as a result of their intelligence .

Cw,

Good catch! I think Mick Jagger does qualify in this category.

Though I would not consider his on-stage act to be particularly sophisticated, my understanding is he is an astute business person and thereby quite intelligent and maybe even sophisticated in his ability to leverage his art!

Gotta toss Duke Ellington (not classical for the most part) in the pot just in case he was omitted otherwise.

Would Frank Zappa qualify?