A - Ahmad ZahirAny of you who have read the kite runner may recognize this name. The afghan equivilant of Elvis, Bob Dylan and John Lennon.
B - Bruce CockburnExcellent folk/rock/blues/world musician who has collaborated with a lot of great artists and I especially enjoy his awesome lyrics and jams.
C - CalexicoSouth-west indie rock group that has done everything from cowboy music to shit that sounds like Children of Sanchez and have worked with Iron and Wine.
D - Dizzy GillespieBig Band, Swing, Latin,
Afro-cuban, fusion, world, smooth... just a few of the styles of jazz this masterful trumpet player has explored in his awesome long career. He isn't necessarily my favorite trumpeter but he certainly surrounds himself with great groups of musicians on a regular basis, including forays into caribbean style folk music as well.
E - Esbjörn Svensson TrioChill as fuck piano/bass/drums jazz trio. Kinda in there with the 'nu-jazz' scene but not nearly as electronic as say Jaga Jazzist or whatever. Minimalist at times, bizarre at others, always sweet.
F - Fela Ransome KutiLeader of Afrika 70 and Egypt 80 and various other pioneering Afro-beat groups, you just have to hear his music to understand.
G - Edvard GriegDark, stark, visceral whatever adjective on that continuum you want, he is one of the greats of his period. Highly recommend the piano concerto.
H - Herbie HancockOne of the few musicians who played fusion for a long time but always managed to keep his soul and never stagnated. Still doing interesting shit and one of my favorite keyboardists/pianists ever.
I - IgnisFatuus.My band. J - Jaga Jazzistwas going to go with Jaco, but he'll make a return later. Their ethereal jazz/postrock sound always mesmerizes me, and their horn sound is so unique I can never get enough of it. plus they are rythmically tight as hell.
K - King CrimsonThe best rock group that has ever existed. Dont even bother listening to the rest of the progressive rock genre because every band pales in comparison. Avoid any music they made after... 1984 or so however. It wasnt the same band as in the 70s when they were amazing.
L - ???M - Mark Knopflerformer lead singer and principle guitarist of Dire Straits, stylistically similar to Van Morrison and Bruce Cockburn in his solo material, has taken a definite turn towards making country music, but he still has that great rock vibe and I will always dig his voice and sweet guitar playing. Saw him in concert with my dad not that long ago, he's still churning out great performances even though hes gotta be at least 60.
N - Nusrat Fateh Ali KhanProbably without a doubt my favorite person on this entire list. I dont even know how to describe his persona, but basically he is the most important figure in all Pakistani music and pretty damn popular in India as well. He plays a traditional style of music that is based around group improvisational poetry readings with intense tabla drumming, rhythmic chanting and clapping and harmonium. He scats like no ones business as well.
O - OpethI dont really listen to metal much anymore but these guys have a special place in my heart. I think everyone is familiar with them though, brutal at times, beautiful at others, they are really the only death metal band worth listening to.
P - Porcupine TreeEveryone knows Porcupine Tree. fuckin cliche shit in this community, but hey, their psychedelic jams are fucking sweet as hell, and they're great live.
Q - Quicksilver Messenger ServiceTheir first two albums are some of the best 60s rock that exists. I personally think they're kind of the proto-jam band along with maybe Traffic, but regardless I really enjoy their rollicking, free-wheeling sound.
R - Sergei Vasilleivich RachmaninovOne of my favorite composers, a tortured dark pianist whose music and chords are so intense that I get chills listening to some of his pieces.
S - Shahram NazeriBasically the best of all the Persian Classical musicians. Between interpretation, production values, vocal ability and all the other factors that can get kinda sketchy with this style of music, Shahram definitely comes out on top, though Mohammad Reza Shajarian and many others are worth checking out. Nazeri can sing like a bird and is a beast on setar when he chooses to do both.
T - Tom WaitsI really just like Rain Dogs and Closing Time and not much else, but yeah this letter was kinda sparse after weeding out all the bands that start with 'The'. I think everyone is fairly familiar.
U - UlverA band whose material ranges from black metal recorded on an answering machine to movie soundtracks, soundscape albums and musical horror shows. I really like the direction they've been going recently, the music just feels like sonic macabre that invades your soul.
V - Van MorrisonThe quintessential singer-songwriter in my opinion. His back catalogue is vast and cavernous however, and picking out the good stuff can be difficult sometimes. He always manages to surround himself with sweet bands and write some groovy fuckin tunes though, so its all good.
W - Weather ReportThe best jazz fusion group there is. Zawinul/Shorter/Acuna/Pastorius/Badrena is my favorite lineup, though they were only together for one album (Black market) and a sweet tour (that is documented in the Montreaux Jazz Festival of 76 show pretty well). Combining latin and the earliest stirrings of world music in the fusion scene they were always on the edge, between Zawinul's outright craziness and the rest of the group's addiction to various drugs cocaine and marijuana being the principle weapons of musical enhancement. The Zawinul/Shorter songwriting duo is one of the best in the history of jazz in my opinion, and Zawinul is without a doubt THE keyboard player. When people think of bass they think Pastorius/Clarke/Wooten/Claypool (why the last two I'll never know, they're both wankers but hey)... when people think of keyboard they should only think of Zawinul because it truly is his and he is the best - bar none.
X - ???Y - ???Z - ???
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An A - Z Adventure...