Best musician in the world?

To your categories, the only amendment I would offer would be in the category of drumming, Tony Williams, recently deceased, is on a par with Coltrane, Heifetz and others. As a matter of fact, Jascha Heifetz' grandson, Danny, is a great drummer in his own right. I recommend to anyone interested, to listen to the guitarist I started this string off with, Shawn Lane. Many of the living guitarists mentioned in this list know of him, if not rever his playing. I actually spoke with Eric Johnson about Lane, and he willingly tabbed him as the greatest living electric guitarist. He went as far as to question whether or not Lane had sold his soul in the same fashion others had once claimed Paganini did. Holdsworth said no one on earth including himself could match the playing he had heard from Lane. I have tapes of him playing with Black Oak Arkansas at the age of 17 in 1978 that is so ridiculous as to be truly mind-boggling. He does a rendition of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D maj on an electric guitar that is as fast and precise- while still emotionally valid- as any work I have heard from Perlman or others. He was 17. His story is more fascinating than I could do justice to in such an (already-too-long)post.

Maxibob: No argument that Tony Williams was one of the great modern jazz drummers. Guitar and drums are maybe the two toughest categories in which to pick "the best". One could make choices based primarily on technical capability, but the emotional component, the ability to connect with the listener, is such a significant element.

Antonio Carlos Jobim & Stan Getzn, The best!

might not be the best, but, medwyn goodall plays all the instruments on his alblums and records and mixes and puts it altogether in his studio in his house. I just recently found out about this guy. hell he's got about 26 cd's. i bought 4. and i'm having a hard time finding anymore in stock.have a listen. i think you'll enjoy.

Thanks Case, I will check him out. That was the real point of the original question, not so much the musician who is greatest at playing one instrument, because then it is a matter of the listener's taste in music and instruments. When someone is truly prodigious at two or more instruments, that is what freaks me out. Especially when the instruments are as divergent as forms of expression in a physical/technical sense, such as drums versus violin, etc.