Is there anybody around we could truly call a musical genius?

There are a whole bunch of musical geniuses. Elvis was a musical genius.

 

Robert Johnson
Hank Williams Sr
Chuck Berry
Jimi Hendrix
Townes Van Zandt
Bob Dylan
Neil Young
Bob Marley
Louis Armstrong

 

George Gershwin

 

No surefire candidates alive today in my opinion. Maybe Steve Reich or Arvo Part.

In rock/pop the best I can come up with are Prince, David Byrne and one or more members of Radiohead.

If we can include lyric writing within the ambit of music, then I would nominate Stephen Sondheim. The best lyricist Broadway has ever seen and one of the best composers. And one who redefined what a musical can be.

 

Jaco Pastorius. Self proclaimed best bass player in the world.

 

I think the term "musical genius" is a misnomer.
Should be "musical conduit".

 

Yeah,but wasn't Roky an Alien?
That puts him in a different category

 

"Around" means alive to me, so I'm going to throw in a vote for Christian Vander.

 

Alien Genius.

 

What happened to his voice?
Your post reminded me that it's been a longtime since I listened to him.
On his 2011 album "Heaven on Earth" his voice is really different.

 

Tommy Bolin

 

Perhaps there was no drug war at the time. But and in any case, Beethoven ain't exactly the most "Together" man in the history of Music, if you know much about his troubled life.

 

File with Sun Ra.

 

Weird Al Yankovic – yeah, I said it.
He’s a musical genius because of the way he has mastered the art of musical parody, along with writing/performing fun & clever originals. And he has kept it going for decades!

 

I'm the opposite: why be so restrictive with denoting someone a genius? Surely there are degrees of genius and, okay, I won't argue with Bach at the top of the heap. But surely too, there are others who have some freak, intuitive grasp of musical logic and language that immeasurably exceeds what the rest of us could manage even with years of attention and training. And I see that all over the place. Isn't that genius? I think so. Again, I don't see the payoff for being so restrictive with declarations of genius. Calling contemporary artist X or Y a genius is to recognize that, at least in some restrictive context, they have some truly extraordinary ability that awes the rest of us (it's not to say they might not also be flakey or flawed in other aspects of their lives, ahem...).

 

As many here have already stated, genius is very difficult to apply to members of a band. Strawberry Fields Forever is most definitely a work of genius. Where's that leave the guys that made it? Frankly I'm not really sure.

Also on the whole "classical is a higher form of art" that I've read a few times here, I must respectfully disagree. Definitely more complex, it requires much, much more training, which all of the greats that we know today received from a young age. Simple does not equate to easy. Van Gogh's works were not nearly as complex as Michelangelo's, yet they are every bit as brilliant. Just try and write The Times They Are a-Changin'. I dare ya.

 

I'd say these three chaps:

 

The guy in the middle doesn't want to deal with the guy on his left and the guy on his right doesn't have time for either one of the other two.

 

He changed his vocal style consistently, in an attempt to use it slims like another instrument - genius??
In addition, ill health and ultimately death didn't 't help

ps, this is a great thread!

 

Now, that's what I call the spirit of improvisation. They just need a seasoned bass player to round out the band. I think this dude might fit the bill:

 

A difficult label to pin on anyone, that's for sure, but one name that always comes to mind when I hear someone say "musical genius" is Jason Falkner. That guy has made some of the most interesting guitar pop music of the last 20 years, and is criminally unknown to most people.

(As an aside, I'm always curious how that guy earns a living. He plays very few shows in his local area, never tours, releases new music sporadically at best and none of his releases are big-ticket royalty earners... as far as I am aware he doesn't have a "day job," and while he does play on other peoples' albums from time to time and occasionally produce here and there, it can't possibly be enough to live comfortably on. It's a mystery... to me anyway!)

 

Kanye West. Why? Just ask him, I'm sure he's not exaggerating or flaunting his ego.

 

In my estimation, a musical genius is anyone who can make a living playing it.

 

I'll go with Frank Zappa. And I'm not any more than a casual fan, and don't own many of his records. But the talent, intelligence, vision, and passion he put into his work is just unsurpassed in this era to me.
The 'Classic Albums" video for Overnight Sensation shines a light on so much of what made him so special, though his music certainly doesn't ring true to everyone.

I think a lot of rock and rollers are viewed by many as just improvisational hacks rather than studied musicians, and I think many would be shocked to find evidence to the contrary.

This little clip is fascinating to me.

 

I think there are all sorts of geniuses including musical. Brian Wilson was the musical genius of the latter half of the 20th century IMO, but there have been many others including Hildegard von Bingen, Purcell, Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Stravinski, Gershwin, etc.