Generally speaking, I am not keen on “favorites” lists but I will contradict myself and offer one up anyway. Besides, people often ask me things like “who is your favorite guitarist,” etc.
Favorite guitarists – Django Reinhardt, Pat Martino, Jeff Beck, John Mc Laughlin, Paco de Lucia, Wes Montgomery
Favorite painters – Vermeer, Ilya Repin, Van Gogh, Rembrandt
Favorite writers – S. J. Perelman, Flann O’Brien, Mark Twain
Favorite composers – Maurice Ravel, Sergei Prokofiev, Johannes Brahms, Mussorgsky
Favorite pianists – Vladimir Ashkenazy, William Kapell, Arthur Rubinstein, Dinu Lipatti