Bill Frisell, was my pick for the "pioneers" theme. What is different in Frisell's music, is that he does not stand out front: His music is made of every part and every musician in the group. He rarely takes solos and when he does, they hardly sound like one - they mesh and flow into the musical environment that he and his groups create. Nothing is more important than the music, and I feel most musicians/composers (myself included) often neglect this in theirs.
My first pick (left) shows Frisell, the sideman. The pick on the right is a more recent, solo album of Frisell's. Yet, I feel the guitar is still a part of the music, not centre-space.
