Most versatile musicians in prog
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Topic: Most versatile musicians in prog
Posted By: topofsm
Subject: Most versatile musicians in prog
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 16:50
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Today I was listening to Devin Townsend in the car. He has an incredible range, especially for a vocalist in popular music. I also noticed not only is he an excellent singer, but he can do screams and growls without damaging his singing voice. He also can hit an excellent vibrato when he wants to, often in an operatic manner when sustaining long notes.
I got to thinking about other singers who had a wide range of vocal abilities. Although I'm not really sure Mike Patton has as good as a singing range as Townsend, as far as I know Patton has done the most versatile styles: singing, screaming, rapping, growling, scat, etc. and he's played in pretty much every musical genre one can imagine. I assume I'm correct when I say he also plays several instruments.
Then there's Gentle Giant, all of whom were virtuoso singers as well as virtuoso instrumentalists. Odds are you could the band an instrument and at least one of them could play it well.
Anyways, versatile musicians in prog: discuss! ------------- 
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Replies:
Posted By: Tarquin Underspoon
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 16:58
I saw the title and came here to post Devin Townsend and GG.  ------------- "WAAAAAAOOOOOUGH! WAAAAAAAUUUUGGHHHH!! WAAAAAOOOO!!!" -The Great Gig in the Sky |
Posted By: NecronCommander
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 16:58
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Heh, funny thing, the first person I thought of when I saw this thread was Townsend. EDIT: Seems like Tarquin Underspoon had the idea before me. |
Posted By: EdgeOfTheWorld
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 17:22
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Michael Akerfeldt... Again like Dev T he is completely versatile when it comes to vocal delivery and guitar playing! Devin Townsend however has produced some of the most unique sounding progressive metal records of the last decade IMO. ------------- A Torn Mind | Scottish Progressive Rock www.atornmind.com www.myspace.com/atornmindband |
Posted By: A Person
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 17:31
| My first thought was Fred Frith. |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 17:43
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Hi,
I think it depends on the situation ... but one Gentle Giant tour someone told me that they had all the musicians play all the instruments during their encore ... and that would be insane, not to mention ... amazing ... and a lot of fun ... can you see it now ? ... 5 bars ... musical chairs ... 5 bars ... musical chairs ... and somehow that makes sense with Gentle Giant ... but I'm not sure this would go over too well with Pink Floyd!
I would think that the most versatile instrumentalist I have ever heard, would probably be Mike Oldfield, but you won't catch him doing it on the stage ... when he usually sticks the to the guitar and lets others play the parts for him ... and he gets to conduct a little ...
Right off the bat ... I can not think of anyone that versatile other than keyboards/guitar type thing ... or keyboards/somethingelse ... which is not uncommon at all.
I did see one performance, and I'm not sure if this was Per Lindh or not ... where the lady sang, played violin, played keyboards, and also played percussion and other wind instruments ... but in general, too much "rock music" ... really lacks the versatility and appreciation for people that have really good musicianship ... it's always too good with the guitar, or bass or this or that ... and not anything else.
In fact, I would say that too much "prog" is defined by that ... rather than anything else ... which sometimes takes away from the musicianship involved ... but when you see Pierre Moerlin play those (marimbas?) things in the Exposed DVD ... you know that you are looking at a Musician ... not a drummer ... and this is the one thing that we don't look at a whole lot ... and that would suggest that music that he's involved with is probably of a different caliber as in general those people are not going to waste their abilities on Chuck Berry ... which is for beginners, let's say ... ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: Syzygy
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 17:46
------------- 'Like so many of you I've got my doubts about how much to contribute to the already rich among us...' Robert Wyatt, Gloria Gloom |
A Person wrote:Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 18:07
| The guys in Tortoise also change places between them, they were incredible at the show I've seen them. Everybody got to play mostly everything. |
Posted By: JROCHA
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 18:36
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Mike Oldfield comes to mind first!
Steven Wilson - Vocals , Guitar , Piano/keys ,Producer
Geddy Lee -Keys ,bass , vocals , synths
I have seen Steven and Geddy play live, they move around alot and play with alot of different instruments
and Thom Yorke from radiohead
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Posted By: Dalezilla
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 18:50
They play with Thom Yorke?  |
Posted By: JROCHA
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 18:56
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Yeah never heard of em, they are a new supergroup !!!!
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Posted By: rogerthat
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 18:57
| Not MOST versatile, but certainly a very versatile one...Ian Anderson. |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 19:01
Stevie Winwood is always the first that comes to mind. Not just a master of the keys.. Hell... Hendrix taught him how to play guitar! 
------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 19:13
 Winwood is the man! |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 19:19
haha.. takes one to know one   Very underrated musician. Haven't been around much or spoke to you in some time. Hope all is going well and you are kicking ass in school haha.  ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 19:32
Yeah I agree on both accounts: Steve is indeed an underrated musician and last year I kicked ass at school
2 more years to go(counting this one) and I'll start college, hopefully
  |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 19:35
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excellent. Really glad to here that Pablo... you don't want to kill yourself to live as some do. Finish college... then sit back and chase blond haired big chested secretaries all day and collect a big check at the same time hahha. What are you thinking of studying these days.. anything really grab you. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 19:49
Black Sabbath reference?
Seriously, haha, that would be really cool though I prefer brunets, other than that slight modification I can't really complain
 Not sure if your last sentence was a question or not
 Anyways, I'll answer it. To tell you the truth, I really have no idea what to study, there's nothing that really grabs me. I mean, I'm really liking literature, you know I love music, but I wouldn't take either path, I think. |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 19:54
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I hoped you might catch that. I used to have a thing for redheads.. till I discovered they are simply the spawn of Satan.... don't ever marry one. Always a question... you still have plenty of time. Beside.. you'll spend your first years of college studying the same sh*t everyone else does. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: TGM: Orb
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 20:43
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Peter Hammill never gets mentioned quite as soon as I'd like in these threads... anyone familiar with a few of his solo records will probably understand just how diverse the material he's sung, written, composed and performed is (from exquisite one-man overdubbed acapella to musique concrete to electronic to singer-songwriter to progressive rock to his bleak 80s rock and synth rock material... even with some attempts at world-inspired and opera material...). As a singer, he's remarkably versatile without feeling a need to drop into the conventions of a genre he's borrowing from. As a musician, he's played keys, guitar (his electric playing has become rather better since the mid-70s VDGG records, and his acoustics shine rather more on some of his late 70s live recordings and The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome rather than the more obvious albums), bass, drums and harmonica, as well as producing/engineering his own records. |
Posted By: Ivan_Melgar_M
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 21:38
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Versatile.......Steve Hackett.
He has released albums and/or songs.
1.- Prog
2.- Pop
3.- Rock
4.- Jazz
5.- Blues
6.- Classical
7.- Acoustic Guitar
8.- Avant Garde
9.- Spanish Guitar
10.- Folk
Iván ------------- 
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Posted By: topofsm
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 22:49
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^ Steve Hackett you say Ivan. I wouldn't have expected you to mention him! -------------
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Posted By: zachfive
Date Posted: February 04 2010 at 23:05
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RICHARD MANUEL, he is one of my absolute favorite musicians and it saddens me just to mention him...
A quote from his fellow band member Mr.Helm (from wikipedia) "...he was drinking pretty hard, but once he got started, man; drums, piano, play it all, sing, do a lead in one of them high, hard-assed keys to sing in. Richard just knew how a song was supposed to go. Structure, melody; he understood it." ... after that I have to post this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0WMBYQL14U">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0WMBYQL14U  R.I.P. |
Posted By: tszirmay
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 01:10
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Italy's Fabio Zuffanti comes to mind! He is a monster bassist, good guitarist, keyboardist as well. But its his panoramic style that impresses me
. He has released albums in the following genres
1 - Ambient (Quadraphonic)
2- prog-folk (Aries)
3- jazz (Zaal)
4- experimental (Rohmer, La Zona)
5- symphonic (Finisterre and Hostsonaten)
6- Heavy-prog (La Maschera di Cera)
7- Crossover (solo)
Pretty good , I say.
Otherwise Mike Oldfield, Guy Manning, Patrick Broguiere, Steve McCabe (Elegant Simplicity), Steve Wilson, Hackett, Jeremy, Vangelis, Bert Heinen (Like Wendy), Bjorn Lynne, Cristiano Roversi (Moongarden, solo, Submarine Silence), Motis, and a few others that escape now... ------------- I never post anything anywhere without doing more than basic research, often in depth. |
Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 03:42
That's what I wanted to say as well. The thing is, some musicians say: I like blues, maybe I should make a blues album some day, but they never do, they stick to their style. Steve Hackett did make a blues album, and a Satie album, and an album with an orchestra, and solo acoustic guitar albums, and an album remakes of Genesis songs etc etc. And even his 'regular' albums have groundbreaking work. Steve's the most versatile musician that I know  |
Posted By: dedokras
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 04:46
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GG and Mike Patton are certainly very versatile
------------- http://mlyk.bandcamp.com/ |
Posted By: fuxi
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 04:56
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Steve Hackett's an excellent example, as Ivan's list clearly shows, and you could easily do something similar with Mr. Frank Zappa!
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Posted By: Icarium
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 04:59
Prince nough said 
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Posted By: fuxi
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 06:16
Or Todd Rundgren? 
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Posted By: friso
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 06:18
I agree with most of input, but I can't say Peter Hammill is a good guitarist. Their latest live footage from the Melkweg Holland shows his qualities on the guitar are quite poor. He's a good keyplayer and an angelic vocalist (in a certain way), but I've always though his composition style is his greatest quality. |
Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 06:37
Saw him in the Melkweg too a few years ago with VdGG, and solo some times. He is a good composer. I saw a Dutch tv special where he sat at the piano at his home and he stroke some unusual chord, and said it was the inspiration for a song. I was surprised. The chord did sound very strange, but when he played the song around it, all seemed to fall into place. Fascinating artist. Still, my vote for most versatile artist would still be Steve Hackett. I can't think of anyone who used more different styles than he did. |
Posted By: Icarium
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 06:56
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i will also say that John Wetton as a Bass layer and singer and band member is verry vercitile since he has playd in so many different bands, with different style whihc he maneged to fit in verry vell like King Crimson, Asia, Uriah Heep, Wishborne Ash, Roxy Music, UK and more you must be versitile to be able to jump from band to band in such ferosity and pace. i will also guess that Tony Levin and Lelan Sklar also fits under the umbrella versitile |
Posted By: Synchestra
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 07:06
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Daniel Gildenlow. He has an amazing range, his growls aren't the best but they do the job (he can scream though) he can also rap quite well, especially since I don't think english is his first language, and he writes most of the music for PoS (hes heavily influence by mike Patton though so its expected) and did I mention his incredible range? Not many vocalists can pull the highs and lows he pulls (often one after the other)
Steven Wilson is also fairly versatile. I think both these musicians are sort of their band, as the bands simply wouldn't exsist without them (although Gavin Harrison is an incredibly important part of PTree now I think, Steven still IS PTree)
Wish I could think of more but everyone else I know has been mentioned... Townsend definately, Akerfeldt, Peter Hammil, GG, even prince though he isn't prog ------------- 'Yeah, thats.. Whatever you're talking about for ya' - Zapp brannigan |
Posted By: unclemeat69
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 07:48
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funny nobody mentions Zappa if only for his composing-skills I also like to mention Steve Vai and of course GG for playing a multitude of different instruments ------------- Follow your bliss |
Posted By: fuxi
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 15:44
Hey uncle, did you read my post above? You're right of course, Zappa wrote and arranged pop, straightforward rock, symphonic prog, jazz, blues, disco, reggae, ska, doowop, avant-garde sound collages, music for chamber ensembles, music for symphony orchestras, music for synclavier and heaven knows what else. Apart from that he was also a gifted vocalist, a superb guitarist, an Italian baroque pasticheur, a perenially controversial lyricist, a tireless defender of "freedom of speech", and very nearly (if I remember correctly) a prominent adviser to the Czech government. Beat that, ye olde hippies! 
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Posted By: A Person
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 15:52
I knew that it was inevitable that someone would mention him eventually, so I didn't. |
Posted By: unclemeat69
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 15:55
------------- Follow your bliss |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 17:39
Agreed ... and yeah ... I'm gonna punish myself with 5 hours of Zappa music ... can't believe I let that one slide by and I obviously need a refresher in my scrots and a small kick in the bagoons and then some dental higiene!
But he knew music ... and had a very good ear for it when it came by him ... regardless of how it was done or undone ... and this helped him experiment, improvise and find a lot of things in music ... that most composers are not capable of seeing ... and have to scribble ten thousand notes to find one second of something that ... is "alive" ...
... and that is his greatest gift to us all ... and what we do not always call "progressive" music ... and if you watch "Zappa does Zappa" ... you will know one thing ... you have to be a superb musician to do some of this stuff ... and KNOW what you are doing ... and most rock music doesn't even have 1/10 that ability ... or desire ... or appreciation! ... that's why some folks create "labels" ... instead of music! ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: johnobvious
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 19:27
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Henning Pauly. Guitar, Bass, Keys, excellent producer and when he couldn't afford to pay his brother to play drums on his last album, he did them himself and quite well. But he can't sing.
------------- Biggles was in rehab last Saturday |
Posted By: Kashmir75
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 19:48
Wow. You heard it here first! A supergroup featuring Geddy Lee, Steven Wilson, and Thom Yorke? Now that I have to hear! When's the CD come out?  ------------- Hello, mirror. So glad to see you, my friend. It's been a while... |
Posted By: Kashmir75
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 19:52
Yeah, I can see the similarities between Gildenlow and Patton. It's interesting that Faith No More cracked the mainstream, when they were probably as left field as PoS are. Steve Wilson writes much of the music for PT, and he is essentially the band. Although you are right about Harrison. I think one of the major influences in their newer sound is because of Harrison joining the band. ------------- Hello, mirror. So glad to see you, my friend. It's been a while... |
Posted By: peart_lee_lifeson
Date Posted: February 05 2010 at 23:44
| I am in agreement with Synchestra. Daniel Gildenlow has an incredible range and has proven that he can write and perform many different styles of music. He has some of my favorite screams from any vocalist and also some low growls that definitely get the job done. His clean voice has to be his best quality though. There are so many incredible vocal moments in Pain of Salvation's music. Oh, and by the way, he is a pretty good guitar player, and could probably handle any instrument you throw at him. |
Posted By: stewe
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 09:55
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as for me I admire and perceive sorts of really versatile talents in
Daniel Gildenlow, Steven Wilson, Mikael Akerfeldt, Neal Morse, Devin
Townsend, Trevor Rabin, Adrian Belew, Francis Dunnery, John Mitchell,
Patrik Lundstrom, Arjen Lucassen, Ken Hensley, Jeff Lynne, Kerry
Livrgen, Steve Hackett, Geddy Lee... - usually singers and/or great multiinstrumentalists, driving forces and persons with wide musical inspiration ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/trevorrabin/?chartstyle=basic10" rel="nofollow">  <a href="http://steveer.ic.cz" rel="nofollow" |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 10:09
and we hope to finally get a chance to meet you to see him play NearFest.  ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: lucas
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 10:25
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Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke
John Lydon of Public Image Ltd
Mike Patton of Mr Bungle
Steve Morse
Tony Hymas of Lonely bears
David Torn
Miles Davis
Carley Coma of Candiria (can slam and do the hardcore "screams")
Pat Metheny
Bill Laswell
Czeslaw Niemen
Terry Bozzio
John Zorn
Gavin Castleton
Björk (in all her musical career : punk, jazz, post-rock, electronic pop...)
H of Marillion
Jan Garbarek
Eddie Harris
Joni Mitchell
The Pentangle (the band)
Franco Battiato
Rupert Hine
Mark hollis of Talk Talk
Robert Smith of The Cure
Mike Scott of The Waterboys
Freddie Mercury of Queen
Tim Buckley
Mark O'Connor
Steve Lukather of Toto
Serge Gainsbourg
Frank Zappa
Fishbone (the band)
Quincy Jones
The Shadows(the band)
------------- "Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood) |
Posted By: akiko
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 11:21
| Beside the obvious already mentioned, a little known musician came to mind. I don't know his name, but it's the guy that plays guitar, pedal steel, mandolin, violin, flute and sings bgvs on Neal Morse's Testimony Live DVD. What's his name? |
Posted By: lucas
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 11:42
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^
Eric Brenton. ------------- "Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood) |
Posted By: fuxi
Date Posted: February 08 2010 at 04:48
Am I wrong, or have some people simply started listing their favourite musicians, provided these express themselves on more than one instrument and/or produce their own albums etc.? 
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Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: February 08 2010 at 07:18
Not me  |
Posted By: ghost_of_morphy
Date Posted: February 09 2010 at 00:46
Same here. ------------- 
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Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: February 09 2010 at 04:41
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Didier Malherbe plays loads of wind instruments, some of them self-designed, like the zeff.
-------------  BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: lucas
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 09:46
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^
true, and collaborated with another phenomenal french artist, Pierre Bensusan.
Another versatile musician ; John Lydon (Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd). PIL albums are so diverse from each other that one can wonder if it's the same band that plays each time. ------------- "Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood) |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 10:07
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I saw you mentioned Battiato in your list, Lucas. Both Micky and I are huge fans of his, and believe his so-called 'pop' albums of the Eighties are way better than a lot of the pap that passes as progressive rock these days. He's an incredibly gifted musician and composer, and I love his singing style as well. I was so lucky as to see him live in the early Eighties - I was a bit skeptical when I enter the theatre, but I left a convert. Definitely an artist that should get much more exposure at the international level.
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Posted By: The Pessimist
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 10:24
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Not prog, but I'm going to have to say Stevie Wonder. Although in HMV you'll see him under the Soul section, he covers rock, jazz, classical, soul, funk, fusion and an array of others. The main reason I'm listening to him though is because he plays all the instruments on all his albums prior to Songs In The Key Of Life. And exceptionally as well.
------------- "Market value is irrelevant to intrinsic value." Arnold Schoenberg |
Posted By: lucas
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 10:36
Yes, I suppose he is as big in Italy as Serge Gainsbourg is in France, and as much eclectic. I like the album 'fleurs' but I need to give further his earlier career. ------------- "Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood) |
Posted By: Sloth
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 11:20
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Not sure he's been mentioned but how about Devin Graves (Deadsoul Tribe) -Guitars -Bass -Flute (ala Jethro Tull) -Vocals ------------- BUH!!! It's what the Buffalo say! |
Posted By: Juiceboxbiotch
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 11:42
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Uh...no mention of Phil Collins?
One of the best prog dummers ever who later switched permanantly to lead vocals.. Pretty versatile IMHO...
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Posted By: micky
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 12:05
you are in for a treat... let's just say my success rate for conversions... is close to 100%. In all seriousness... he has been the one artist here I have made real effort to expose people to... and to be honest... I can't think of one person that did not see what I did in his albums. Now I'm talking his early to mid 70's albums... his late 70's albums are strictly for fanboys of his... or the very weird Or perhaps they are one and the same. Once you listen to Sulle Corde di Aries.. you'll be hooked. That has the Micky-Funny Money back guarantee on that. It's that incredible of an album... even hardasses like Phillippe really got into it. He was my crowning jewel... and even Hugues, who generally detests Italian prog... really dug it. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: Ivan_Melgar_M
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 14:12
I believe soime people mixed the concept versatile with multi instrumentalist.
Being able to play several instruments and even produce the albums has no relation with versatility, versatile is a musician or band that is able to play in different styles, genres and moods without any problem.
Mike Oldfield s a very talented mulrti instrumentalist and composer, but his music has such an obvious signature, that you recognize the author before knowing it, that's exactly the opposite to versatile.
Iván
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Posted By: topofsm
Date Posted: February 11 2010 at 00:36
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^Actually, Ivan, if you saw my OP, I was actually talking about versatility in terms of instrumentation, but the thread's shifted to playing different styles of music. Not that there's anything wrong with that, there's just several ways you can look at it. In terms of technique, style, dynamics, etc.
Of course, yeah, it seems that anybody who sings and plays both guitar and bass can qualify as 'versatile' in this thread. -------------
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Posted By: halabalushindigus
Date Posted: February 11 2010 at 02:12
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Eddie Jobson ------------- assume the power 1586/14.3 |
Posted By: Ivan_Melgar_M
Date Posted: February 11 2010 at 09:07
Versatile means also to be capable of adapting his style, in this case, my vote gioes for the king of versatility PATRICK MORAZ
Played with great success in three ICONIC bands with three of the best keyboardists and three different (opposite) styles, many solo artists albums and 10 own albums in Folk, Prog and Jazz. THAT'S VERSATILITY TO AN EXTREME. Iván -------------
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Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: February 11 2010 at 20:46
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Prince Nelson. ------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |