Originally Posted by: JeffS65However, we all know there are great guitar players who are not household names. I thought it would be fun to see whom everyone thinks is a great guitar player but completely underrecognized or just not given their props by the world at large.[/quote]Fun topic! I think the primary reason a guitarist is known outside guitar circles is because they are known for the songs they are associated with instead of solely for their guitar skill. Recognition by the world outside of musicians is usually earned by playing recognizable songs that have vocals that people can relate to and care about. Or least playing an instrumental version of a recognizable song that started with a lyric vocal. With that in mind it's easy to see why, for example, Jeff Beck is not as widely recognized as Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton.
So, instrumental music in general is where you might look for players that are under-recognized by the general public. But most guitar players I know are aware of & admire these players.
This tune shows the incredible range of Guthrie Govan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D0WuVE8dQU
Here's 2 for 1! Martin Taylor & Julian Lage duet on a beautiful standard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKsuQbOg9oM
Pasquale Grasso is my favorite new chord melody guy expanding on the Joe Pass style.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyoXuQ9812U
Chet Atkins, Tommy Emmanuel, Doyle Dykes & Ted Greene are pretty well known for instrumental guitarists. Looking for performance by those guys I found Richard Smith. His fingerstyle versions of Joplin's ragtime pieces are the closest I've ever heard to capturing the essence of the originals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFeWbbaSJQc
[quote=JeffS65]
Country:
Danny Gatton
Albert Lee
Nice choices! I see your Telecaster masters & I raise you with Scotty Anderson. Check out how he plays diad harmony lines with himself at about :58. Holy moly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1an45rMwg7A
Matteo Mancuso is a recent find! Here he's playing a little blues thing. Check out that right hand technique: no pick!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8OsuhTDufw
And with his trio playing an amazingly funky & complex instrumental.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST9--HWOTA8
Finally, Eliot Fisk, the guy that transcribed all 24 Paganini violin caprices. This is a performance of no. 24.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbeAbllBpGo
Good stuff!
