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?
