Here is a list of 12 amazing performances from great musicians (mostly from the Jazz arena). The performances are sublime and we are lucky to have video and audio recordings of such great human talent. So here they are, 12 jaw dropping musical performances:
1. Monte Montgomery Wikipedia
Monte Montgomery is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is renowned for his live electric acoustic guitar performances.
2. Barbara Dennerlein Wikipedia
Barbara Dennerlein (born 25 September 1964 in Munich, Germany), is a hard bop and post-bop Hammond B3 organist whose 1980s recordings helped to revive interest in the Hammond organ.
3. Jimmy Z Wikipedia
Jim Zavala is an American musician. While still in his teens, the saxophonist (known in the music industry as Jimmy Zavala, or Jimmy ‘Z’) frequented nightspots in his hometown of Sacramento, California, often sporting his trademark dark sunglasses. During this time, he was introduced to the mouth harp and harmonica music of Little Walter and Taj Mahal.
4. Santana Wikipedia
Santana (originally the Santana Blues Band) is a flexible number of musicians accompanying Carlos Santana since the late 1960s. Just like Santana himself, the band is known as the one which made Latin rock famous in the rest of the world.
5. Derek Trucks Wikipedia
Derek Trucks (born June 8, 1979) is an American guitarist, bandleader (The Derek Trucks Band), and member of The Allman Brothers Band.
6. The Campbell Brothers Wikipedia
7. Stevie Ray Vaughan Wikipedia
Stephen “Stevie” Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990), born in Dallas, Texas, was an American blues guitarist. His broad appeal made him one of the world’s most influential electric blues guitarists
8. Buddy Rich Wikipedia
Bernard “Buddy” Rich (September 30, 1917 Brooklyn, New York – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as “the world’s greatest drummer” and was known for his virtuoso technique, power, and speed.
9. Earl Scruggs and Friends Wikipedia
Earl Eugene Scruggs (born January 6, 1924) is a musician noted for creating a banjo style (now called Scruggs style) that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music.
10. Pavarotti and Liza Minelli Wikipedia
Liza Minnelli (born March 12, 1946 in Los Angeles, California) American actress and singer. She is the daughter of legendary actress and singer Judy Garland and her second husband, film director Vincente Minnelli. Pavarotti is, of course, the greatest opera singer of the late 20th century who died this year.
11. Marvin Gaye Wikipedia
Marvin Gaye (born Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr.) (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American singer-songwriter, musician and performer who gained international fame as an artist on the Motown label in the 1960s and 1970s.
12. Michel Petrucciani Wikipedia
Michel Petrucciani (December 28, 1962, Orange, France – January 6, 1999, Manhattan), was a French Jazz pianist. Michel Petrucciani came from an Italo-French family of a musical background. His father “Tony” played guitar and his brother Louis played bass. Michel was born with osteogenesis imperfecta which is a genetic disease that causes brittle bones and in his case short stature. It is also often linked to pulmonary ailments.
Contributor: Alan Bryson
This article is licensed under the GFDL. It uses material from Wikipedia.
Another great list.
Here’s another good performance by Jaco Pastorius, considered the greatest bass player who ever lived.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZtGn6LevMlo
Or for the classical music lovers there’s Horowitz
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KZGi49Bnghs
Also, does anyone else think that one of the banjo players looks like Steve Martin? Lettermen even calls him Steven…
Yay for the daily updates.
Oh good performance here too http://youtube.com/watch?v=6VAkOhXIsI0
Awesome list. Only heard of 3 or 4 of these guys before. Gonna have to go start downloading some songs now. Michel Petrucciani is awesome. Kind of got that “Charlie Brown” feel. You go little guy.
Lindsey Buckingham – Big Love
one of my favorites..
Check this guy out. Trace Bundy, known as the “Acoustic Ninja”. Amazing finger work on his guitar on this classic piece.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=N9to1auUNTk
Mojo: Great links! Horowitz is a master! I will probably do a classical list similar to this one at some point.
Naomi: that guy has such a nice style about his playing – and fingernails to make any woman jealous!
Mal: I love Fleetwood Mac – I have one of their albums.
DiscHuker: I can’t believe he plays half of that sul tasto – and if you couldn’t see him you wouldn’t know! What a talent. I must confess to not really liking the Canon all that much though – it has been a bit overdone I think.
Great list, I love SRV, he’s one of my favourite guitarists
I would add Steve Howe’s “The Clap”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JxEJ3K68aqk
This song is incredibly hard to play properly, it took me more than a year to learn it
god i love Stevie Ray Vaughan. The Live at the El Macambo (sp?) Dvd is amazing. i can watch it over and over totally in awe. damn those crazy helicopters.
I understand about Pachabel, jfrater. But don’t miss the forest for the trees. Check out his signature song.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XyY4LNkxOW0&mode=related&search=
I have no idea how to play a guitar, so this might not be that difficult. but to me, it is almost incomprehensible. man, music is AWESOME!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XyY4LNkxOW0&mode=related&search=
I love Monte. Here is my fav Monte performance
do a search for “stevie wonder drum solo”
Haha, Pavarotti is star-struck when he sees Liza. Great list.
a little something from Broadway.
stevie wonder taking us all to school…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SCZv7786KY
Great additions guys – thanks
Dan: Yeah – isn’t it funny how she is so cool and he is so nervous? This clip was the first time I had seen her perform and I was very impressed.
These are all awesome, so here’s one of my all-time favorite “oh my god” performances, a double guitar solo by the lead guitarist of Nitro, Michael Angelo Batio. He’s amazing to the nth degree. Enjoy, and make sure to watch it all the way to the end! –> http://youtube.com/watch?v=rutyA12z3Ok
how about some kickin ukulele?!?!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=O9mEKMz2Pvo
You should do a Best Rock Performances list. I know Santana is on this one but what about… Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, Janis Joplin at Monterey Pop, Bob Dylan during his 1975 tour, Led Zepplin, The Beatles, David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, Queen at Live Aid… I can think of a bunch more if you need some ideas
Monkey: Feel free to do a list and send it in – I am not very au fait with rock music so you would probably do a better job
sakul: Brilliant! I saw that a while ago and loved it – he is amazing.
wowzer: Holy crap! That is crazy!
that actually is steve martin. he is a very accomplished banjo player. he used to play it in some of his old standup (look for ramblin’ man). he rocks out on the ukulele as well.
no one will ever touch buddy rich on the drums.
oops, it’s ramblin guy http://youtube.com/watch?v=CDFVSPFvY5o
Thanks for having Monty on here. Not many people know him but he is truly amazing.
JF, Thanks, I would love too. I don’t know when I’ll get to it though. I really don’t even have the time to be hanging out on List Universe (I just can’t help it though)
I’m a grad student working on my Master’s in Psychological Counseling… Maybe I can get to it during winter break…
Marvin Gaye’s version of the national anthem might be one of the best ever
and what about this video
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QR7TOwrb6wo
The Stevie Wonder footage is stunning.
This is a clip of Seamus Ennis playing the nutoriously difficult Uilleann Pipes beautifully.
Lightning Bolt clip:
Lightning Bolt can proudly claim that they are the only performance at the Peel Sessions where John Peel handed out earplugs to the audience.
You can debate whether noise music is a valid genre but this is certainly jaw dropping.
It’s extremely hard to play the acoustic guitar like montgomery does! Also, i saw santana at music in the park in july, he was pretty awesome.
Great list man thanks.
I dont know but I love this performance of Corinne Bailey Rae
And this performance of Paco de Lucia is one of his best I think, I love the bass solo in the beginning at around 2:30
monte’s is one of the best covers of little wing i’ve heard. great list. i was happy to see scruggs on here too. the one person i would’ve loved to have seen on the list is stanley jordan. he is a great american guitarist who has innovated his own technique. i had the good fortune to see hime live in paris where he played piano and guitar instantaneously changing from lead on the guitar rhythm on piano to paino lead and rhythm guitar. look him up.
No Victor Wooten?
I love this performance with him and his brother on “slap guitar”. It is, for lack of a better word in the language, astounding.
Thanks AJ, that was really cool. What is he using for mutes on that guitar. hair scrunchies? I like jamming a rag under the strings right at the bridge on my bass for a punchy, muted sound.
How about Eric Clapton from 24 nights, Old love……as good as live gets…..
A gift to share http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIt6prDbgdc
There are many great performances on You Tube. The memorable ones are those one is drawn to watch over and over. I’ve never heard of an instrument called the theremin but after I saw this video I cannot stop watching it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiRWeXusuzc
Tony: That is very interesting because I feel the same way about the Theremin – and included it on Top 10 Bizarre Musical Instruments. Check out item 8 – he is a much better player than the woman playing Greensleeves in the one you posted – though she is pretty good too. The guy in my video has a very delicate touch and great even vibrato.
lynyrd skynyrd – freebird
whitney houston – i will always love you
leann rimes – amazing grace
christina, lil kim, mya, pink – lady marmalade
2overpar: I agree with some of your items – but not all. Thanks for mentioning them.
How can you leave out Jimmy Hendrix’s performance of the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock?
An awesome demonstration of how a Chapnam Stick can sound …
–
Jeremy
Jeremy Foster: that is great! Wow.
It’s cool to have a list like this because then people can leave comments on say, additional jaw-dropping muscial performances. Which by the way there are some great ones here.
Seriously: go to youtube, search:
Stevie Wonder-Superstition live on Seasame Street
yeah it’s on Seasame Street back in the 1970′s and it is Super Funky and Incredible!! I wish I was one of the kids on the set that day, would have been one of the highlights of my childhood.
Sorry the Stevie Ray Vaughan video on the list has been removed, but here is another link for the same clip:
P.S. When I came up with this list I started with about 50. I agree with those who mentioned Stevie Wonder, I had five clips of him in my original list that I could have included. Ray Charles, Jeff Healey, and Jose Feliciano were also on the original list. It was very difficult to narrow it down to just 12. So I picked performances that were amazing, but I also wanted to have a varied list (rock, blues, bluegrass, gospel, soul and however one could classify Pavarotti and Liza Minelli together.) Also I wanted to share some amazing musicians who aren’t “superstars”, but who are worthy of wider recognition.
Marvyn Gay was amazing- he raised the crowd with an anthem- had them clapping- while making it look easy (and note the partial Black power slaute on “lnadf of the free”- his phrasing and timing were a work of wonder. I have been looking for this clip for years since I saw it originally in the NBA All Star game. Marvyn Gay could thrill a crowd singing the phone book!!!
Ok, I’m going to show an amazing lack of class and contribute some from reality TV programs…
The amazing french beat boxer
The cellphone salesman who always wanted to sing opera
The 11 year old belting out a challenging song
WHERE’s BUCKETHEAD?!?!?! Or Malmstein!?!?!
What about an AC/DC performance? Or an Eddie Van Halen guitar solo?
@alexlwe:
I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t consider AC/DC “jaw-dropping”. The strong majority of their songs are essentially the same song. A lot of them feature a similar, repetitive riff.
gotta have phish at Big Cypruss, 8 hour set!
ismoke Rocks: Whole heartedly agree. I am a HUGE Phish Phan, seen them live 15 time, I have over sixty of their live shows either bootlegged or clean… big fan and loved Big Cyprus! It’s so hard for me to pick a favorite, but that’s up there!
D Holmes: Have you ever seen a performance though? Not only does the music rock (who cares if its the same riff?) but the things they do make the show.
hendrix’s guitar version off the national anthem didn’t make the list?
I know another one that should have made this list:
Les Claypool
He is the best bassplayer I know.
Hendershot: If Les Claypool is the best bassplayer you know of, then you obviously haven’t heard of Victor Wooten, Jaco Pastorius, Marcus Miller, Alain Caron, Oteil Burbridge, Matt Garrison, or Larry Graham. If any bass player should have made this list, it would be either Jaco’s version of America the Beautiful, or Victor Wooten’s infamous version of Amazing Grace. Not to mention the rest of Victor Wooten’s catalogue…any of the guys above put Les Claypool to shame, Vic just does it with the most style and jaw-dropping virtuosity.
Hey SlickWilly,
I have heard of Victor Wooten and I have heard of Larry Graham (thanks to his connection with Prince, who should also have made this list in my opinion, together with Mike Patton).
I will not even try to determine who’s the best bass player, but no other bass player can put Les Claypool to shame (even if they are better… what’s there to be ashamed of?).
Anyway, I have looked at the Amazing Grace video and it is quite impressive (but I managed to keep my mouth shut, so no jaw-dropping for me).
But for now I’ll stick to Les Claypool for my vote.
But what I really wanted to say was: Thanks.
As the other names indeed do not ring a bell, I will see if any of them are to my likings. Maybe I’ll discover something I’ll really enjoy.
Okay, Hendershot….which Les Claypool performance, then? For every one you can name, I can name a better, more impressive performance by any one of the guys I listed above. Les Claypool’s style is sloppy and weird. His tone is terrible and he writes some of the most god-awful music ever put to tape. He can slap…whee, Marcus Miller and Vic are better at it than he is. He can tap…yay, Stu Hamm and Vic again have him beat. He can chord…Alain Caron, Bunny Brunnel, and once again Mr. Wooten have him beat there. He can play fingerstyle…big deal, Jaco Pastorius will always be the greatest fingerstyle player. It just irritates me, being a career bass player, how some kids these days idolize Les Claypool. He is good, yeah. Jaw-dropping? Hardly. Virtuosic? I don’t think so. I heard some kids at the Berkelee summer program play all his hardest stuff, kids that were years younger than me. It’s not that impressive. And…honestly, it just doesn’t sound very good.
It all depends on what you find impressive, no ?
) the way he uses his technique to create incredible riffs. I like his riffs. I must agree that this is also why I never pointed out any specific performance… he does not show-off (a quality I also admire…).
I do not find it jaw-dropping when someone can put like a thousand notes in a single second. Not if that’s all they do.
I must say that the performances of most bass players you mentioned are astounding. But I have the opposite feeling that you have. I do not like listening to them. I do not like music just because it is hard to play or because it is technically brilliant.
To give an example. I listened to the “Victor Wooten Guitar Battle” on YouTube. You know what part I like the most? The part just before they start playing together. The one where Victor plays a much simpler tune.
To clarify why I prefer Les Claypool above what I have heard so far from the people you’ve mentioned: I do admire Les’ technique, but that is just that: technique. I idolize (not really, but you started using this word
Also something does not diminish in quality because others can repeat it. Thousands of people can paint the paintings Vincent Van Gogh created. That doesn’t make them artists and it doesn’t diminish the quality of Van Gogh’s work.
Why does it irritate you that people adore Les ?
The fact that you find his music god-awful says about all… You don’t like his musical style, and I very much do.
So I have heard a few more on your list.
I still stick to Les Claypool.
excellent list! “Little Wing” has always been one of my favorites and Monte Montgomery’s version gave me goosebumps-what I wouldn’t give to see him live!
What about Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison
Where’d SRV go!?
Buddy Rich was amazing…I’ve seen his work before – but that one blew my mind. However…I’d make him the world’s SECOND best drummer. Neil Peart from Rush…even at his age now can wail on a drum set (and if you’ve ever seen his concert drum sets…they are massive!) He even performed at a Buddy Rich Memorial show.
Cliff Burton could tear up a bass too…maybe not the best ever…but certainly drops my jaw…