Who Do You Think The Top Five Mandolin Players Are?

[300win]

Ronnie McCoury, Sam Bush, Bill Monroe, Ronnie Prevett, Spencer Strickland

[Jeff Oxley]

These are the ones that have influenced me the most...leaving out a lot of the great ones, and realizing that this is not the OP's original question (which I don't feel qualified to respond to--"the top 5 mandolin players"--seeing as I haven't really been exposed to enough to make that determination):

1. Bill Monroe

[Jeff Oxley]

OOPS! to continue:

2. Ronnie McCoury
3. Sam Bush
4. David Grisman
5. Jesse McReynolds

[Jeff Oxley]

CRAP!! I'm just not with it today...realized I left out Thile, he's gotta be in there somewhere...DANG, there's just to many out there!

[Willie Poole]

If someone plays fast and plays a lot of scales up and down the neck of a mandolin dos that make them a "good mandolin player"?, I don`t think so, I look for clean playing where I can hear some melody and good timing...As far as raking pickers in the top five I don`t think it can be done on here because we have so many different lovers of different kinds of music, some of those pickers mentioned I have never heard of because I don`t listen to classical or Celtic music all that much and when I do I never know who is doing the picking, a person would have to have a ton of CD`s or records to be able to read who is playing on the albums...

Like one person asked, "What difference does it make"? I know who I like to listen to and I`m sure most of you have a different liking for other music than I do....

I vote for Dempsy Young, Ronnie McCoury, Doyle Lawson, Danny Clark,and a toss up for Buzz Busby and John Duffey

Notice I left my own name off of the list?.....Willie

[Jim MacDaniel]

A Top Five is very subjective -- and short -- but those that I find most inspirational include:
Dan Beimborn
Dagger Gordon
Kevin Macleod
Iain Macleod
Luke Plumb
Paul Kelly
Jimmy Ryan
John McGann
Dan Zanes
John Kruth
Kevin Russell
Sam Bush
Radim Zenkl
Jacob Reuven
David Grisman
Andy Statman

[kmiller1610]

Have to divide this into two categories: Bell tone and Jazz Tone.

Bell Tone: Thile, Hull, Reichman, Steffey

Jazz Tone: Marshall, Bush, Monroe, Grisman

One of the things I love about the Marshall / Thile collaborations is you can see the advantages of both.

My most admired Mandolin Ambassador is Mike Marshall. He de man.

[Ken_P]

My most admired Mandolin Ambassador is Mike Marshall. He de man.

Can't agree with that enough. Nobody even comes close in terms of finding great music and musicians from around the world and bringing them to "American" (for lack of a better term) acoustic music. In just the last few years, collaborations with Hamilton de Holanda, Vasen, and Caterina Lichtenberg all yeilded marvelous results.

[generankin]

Got two to add which have not been mentioned yet:

Gerry Hundt, who plays blues mostly.
Jim Nikora, who studied with Jethro, prefers Irish music nowadays.

[Jeff Mando]

I have a pet peeve about those who insist this question cannot be answered. Determining the top mandolin players in terms of technical facility on the instrument isn't an impossible task, or an improper judgment to make. Now, if the question were the five most creative players, the five best tune-writers, the five best musicians who happen to play the mandolin, or the five most emotionally evocative mandolin players, that would be tough, and probably futile. Technique-wise I think you can get a pretty good list (I'm limiting myself to players currently alive, though I doubt any old-timers except Dave Apollon and Jethro could contend).

1) Chris Thile: No question the best technical mandolinist alive. Able to play in any style of music with authority, with the most speed, best rhythm (possibly excepting Sam Bush), and broadest dynamic range. On top of this, able to improvise fluently in any of these styles, using that style's vocabulary.

2) Hamilton de Holanda: Has nearly all the technical facility of Thile, but with sloppier attack and tone, and a more limited stylistic palate, BUT even more able at solo-crafting and improvisation (capable of improvising complete duo-style arrangements on themes, leaving #3 below breathless with awe).

3) Evan Marshall: Amazing technical facility both in regular playing and duo-style, with immaculate tone and broad dynamic range, but stylistically limited to bluegrass and classical and almost completely lacking in improvisational ability compared to Thile and Hamilton. Pretty much everything he plays is pre-arranged.

After these three, there is a clear gap. Next...

4) Mike Marshall: Excellent technical facility, dynamics and rhythmic command, but with some sloppy habits including too much pick noise and occasionally not playing notes "clean" Not quite up to the Thile standard for speed, but still excellent. However, he possesses a very wide stylistic grasp, and fantastic command of improvisation across those styles.

5) A bit more of an open question.
There's Sam Bush, who has stunning rhythm and command of an ensemble but relies on licks for much of his lead playing, and isn't up to the speed levels or command of the entire fretboard of the others.
There's Andy Statman, who is crazy good at improvisation, and has an insanely broad stylistic breadth, but doesn't always get full tone, and doesn't use his mando strongly as a rhythm instrument.
There's Danilo Brito, a Brazilian phenom who is Thile-fast, can play duo style well, has unbelievable command of the fretboard and great sensitivity and dynamic range. However, he is stylistically limited to mostly Brazilian music and doesn't exploit the mandolin to its fullest rhythmic potential due to the nature of the choro ensemble (where the mando is more like a lead instrument, and on top of that he plays a flat-top).

Then, there's some of the younger folks. Andy Leftwitch has near-Thile speed, great command of the fretboard, and strong rhythm, but is somewhat lacking in dynamic range and lyricism (too eighth-note dependent). Plus, his improvisational abilities outside bluegrass and swing are unknown, and some similar licks pop up from time to time. This could also apply to Jake Jolliff (superb), Josh Pinkham and a couple more of the current Thile-inspired generation.

The battle for the last spot is where it gets touch and go. However, I think the first four can stand up.


Thoughts? For the record, I would not consider this list my list of "favorite players" though there would definitely be some overlap. Despite everyone's claims of pure subjectivity, I think we could have a legitimate discussion with evidence presented and conclusions drawn about the best players in terms of technical ability. Some also might not agree with my inclusion of stylistic breadth and improvisational ability in there, but I think they're an important part in measuring just how good a player technically is.

I am not claiming to be the word of God on this, and would love to hear arguments and evidence (video or sound clips help) of why my order should change (especially if you have a strong case for who #5 should be). Can you tell I'm in law school?

Seriously? I think this post represents views of a certain "age demographic" that is popular on MC. Obviously, there are no right or wrong answers, but I think an older person might choose Monroe, McReynolds, or Ronnie McCoury. Lotta good players out there!

[Andrew B. Carlson]

Zombie thread. hehe. I do think Thile could be on top of many lists, whether it be favorite or best mastery of the mandolin. He's up there on my list. But I really think Steffey is an outstanding player. I just love every little flourish he does and all the syncopated off beats he thinks of. And call me starstruck, but John Reischman is excellent, and not just because I've played with him.

[Bubba Pearson]

Me?
1.Sam Bush
2.Frank Wakefield
3.Bill Monroe
4.Chris Thile
5.David "Dawg" Grisman

I couldn't possibly name the best five mandolin players out there. There now are so many different masters of so many different styles (Bluegrass, Newgrass, Dawg, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Fusion, etc.) -- it's almost more a matter of mood at a given time, rather than just raw technical prowess. I'll take a stab at naming my own personal top five favorite mandolin players though (wow, once I started, even this proved impossible as a practical exercise!):

I can definitely go with these as my Top Three Favorites (in sort of a revolving order):

Chris Thile
Butch Baldassari
David Grisman

Places four and five are in the following short list, _in_no_particular_order_ (and some/many almost certainly deserve a rotation or two in the top threedom list):

Sam Bush, Wayne Benson, Mike Marshall, Mike Compton, Tim O'Brien, Andrew Collins, Emory Lester, Kym Warner, Ben Winship, Don Julin, Adam Steffey, Alan Bibey, Frank Solivan II, Don Stiernberg, Matt Flinner, Ricky Skaggs, Bill Monroe, Bobby Osborne, Sarah Jarosz, Sierra Hull, Adam Statley, Chad Fadely and ... and a VERY large host of others, but I'll stop there. I am shocked! Trying to nail down just five as *the masters*, much less my favorite five, was totally out of reach. Wait! I forgot Doyle Lawson, Tom Rozum, Jesse McReynolds, Yank Rachell, John Reischman, and (mandolin masters ad infinitum)....

[ccravens]

Glad to see Butch Baldassari's name mentioned.

A great person and mando player.

He is missed.

[Steve Ostrander]

I won't comment on who's the best. There are so many extraordinary players out there. I'll just say who my favorites are, in no particular order:

Chris Thile
Ronnie McCoury
David Grisman
Mike Compton
Sam Bush

I guess my favorite is whoever I am listening to at the time.

[atbuckner21]

This is so tough! My favorites are:
Simon Mayor, John Reischman, Chris Thile, Mike Marshall, Sierra Hull, Andy Leftwich, and Adam Steffey.

[jaycat]

I did a search and I don't think anyone has mentioned Ry Cooder. He is certainly tops for me. I was inspired to take up the instrument after hearing his "Kentucky Blues."

[AlanN]

Flogging through this thread from top to bottom just shows how many departed (from regular posting) friends we have/had.

My fave entry, from the truly departed: Bill Monroe is the top 5 mandolin players

R.I.P. JM

[crisscross]

Bill Monroe is the top 5 mandolin players

Not sure he could have pulled off something like this though http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3EWXnzjmE
Marissa Carol can

[Jeff Mando]

Not sure he could have pulled off something like this though http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3EWXnzjmE
Marissa Carol can

Yes, but how is her high falsetto singing?

Actually, that video is frightening--reminds me of those little North Korean kids playing classical guitar. Yuck. Ptooey!

We better stick with Bluegrass!

[Sevelos]

Although some people dismiss this thread as too subjective, it's great for me.
I never learned mandolin or listened to mandolin music. Rather, I improvised with many different musicians, learning slowly as I went along, in whatever musical styles they played (Balkan, Irish, Ethno-rock, whatever...). Only lately, God bless youtube, I started getting interested in what other mandolin players do, and wanted to find out who are the most interesting players in order to listen and learn (and there's a LOT of that to be done).
Thanks guys for this thread and the great site, I have a lot of material now.
BTW - I think the Brazilian Bandolim style is amazing - playing Mandolin not only as a rhythm/solo instrument, but somewhat similar to classical guitar or the Portuguese guitar - very elaborate and structured musical pieces involving the melody as well as the harmony.

[Tx Fiddler]

Late to this thread but here's my $.02...

The original question is indeed highly subjective. I've been playing music professionally (not mandolin though!) for about 30 years and through the course of those years I've always had musicians that I held as "better" than others. What I realized several years ago is that really talented musicians reach a level where one's not any better than a similarly talented musician, but plays with a certain style I prefer.
For example Tiny Moore and Johnny Gimble both were adept at playing harmony parts and solid jazzy courses, but Gimble was a, no, THE master in the use of complex, moving chords when playing leads. And that's the stuff that interests me.

Tx

[mandroid]

The Playing of Evan Marshall was impressive .. Solo, in Duo Style.. Radim Zinkel plays pieces in this style

some , but Evan seems better at it.

[bradlaird]

A.O.M. says: http://www.bradleylaird.com/aom/hall.html