Speaking of bluegrass, a few of my favorites:
Green Mountain Hop - Don Reno and Red Smiley
Sweet Dixie - Bill Emerson (when he was with Jimmy Martin)
Sally Goodin’ - J.D. Crowe and the New South
I suppose it depends how one interprets “best instrumentals”. In terms of jazz (the genre I’m best-versed in) there are of course many classic moments–a quick handful would include: Armstrong’s “West End Blues” (not strictly “instrumental” I suppose–there’s a vocal too–but the instrumental solo on here is of course famous) & “Weatherbird” with Earl Hines, Lester Young’s “Shoe Shine Boy”, Coleman Hawkins’ “Body & Soul”, Charlie Parker’s “Ko Ko”, Duke Ellington’s “Koko” (two different tunes, despite the title), Rollins’ “Blue Seven”, Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman”, Coltrane’s “Chasin’ the Trane”, &c. Some players are harder to pin down to one particular standout track–Art Tatum comes to mind. The closer one gets to the present time the more contentious things are likely to be, especially in jazz where there is very little consensus among fans & critics about the achievements & major artists of the period after 1960.
That said it’s worth keeping in mind that instrumental prowess is sometimes most intensely & originally developed in areas outside popular musics. In many ways the single most technically outstanding saxophonist in the history of improvised music is Evan Parker, a British saxophonist who from a starting-point in post-Coltrane jazz has gone on to develop a staggeringly complex musical language in which he’s exploited the possibilities of multiphonics (i.e. producing split tones on the instrument). He can deliver phenomenally dense slabs of music which sound like three or four saxophonists playing at once in extremely rapid polyphony. Of the solo albums I’ve heard, Conic Sections is perhaps the best, a harsh & exhilarating hour’s worth of this stuff–perhaps track 3 or 4 might earn my vote for any “best instrumental” poll. I gather Six of One is also remarkable, though I’ve yet to hear it (it has been out of print for years & was only recently reissued). Though most of Parker’s work is confined to small specialist labels, fans of Robert Wyatt (shleep) & Scott Walker (Climate of Hunter) will have heard brief snippets of his work. – But of course Parker’s kind of music has nothing to do with other technical matters, such as the ability to interpret a tune in an authoritative & insightful manner, or to run through the changes (chords) of a tune creatively–one might nominate, among saxophonists, Zoot Sims & Warne Marsh, respectively, for possessing such skills in spades (hard to single out one track of Marsh’s for praise–perhaps “You Stepped Out of a Dream” on Ne Plus Ultra?–but for an instance of Sims’ work as its finest, one might give a listen to “I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone” on If I’m Lucky).
To split the hair a little finer as not only purely instrumental but also solo piano work, Bill Evans. That’s what’s playing in some of my more introspective moments. (Though the trio work is quite brilliant and does not suffer by comparison.)
And of course Tatum; “God is in the house,” said Fats Waller. The series of solo sessions is a great education in many things and I believe is proof of the existence of God.
Totally different and perhaps demanding a little more tolerant ear, anything by Carla Bley, especially The Carla Bley Big Band Goes to Church.
Damn near any recording of Dvorak’s “Symphony From the New World.”
George Gershwin’s little solo piece “Sleepless Night” – Michael Tilson Thomas has recorded it and I’m sure there’s others. A piece so perfect Ira Gershwin tried for 50 years to set lyrics to it and failed.
“West End Blues.” Every time I think I have something going over on the tuba I go listen to that and go back and practice some more.
Mingus. Monk. Gil Evans. Especially Howard Johnson’s solo on “Voodoo Chile.” Ray Anderson.
<sigh>Not enough hours in the day to listen to/mention everybody that comes to mind.
your humble TubaDiva
And I didn’t even mention the Bach Cello Suites, or Faure, or Ralph Vaughan Williams or . . .
PS Didn’t Duke Ellington write “Happy Go Lucky Local?”
Right you are! I was thinking of the Peterson performance on his Night Train album, but it is an Ellington piece. Thanks for pointing that out.
Just let me add a little something here, without posting a favorite.
Instrumental fans should check out the “Rock Instrumental Classics” Rhino collection. Five CD’s, divided into 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, Soul and Surf. Instrumentals range from Duane Eddy to the Edgar Winter Group.
Surf guitar fans should check out Los Straitjackets.
Mr.GreenGenes has lyrics.
Son of Mr. Green Genes is the instrumental version.
Knotty Pine by Leo Kottke…
Rumble, by Link Wray
Let’s get picky.
Ride of the Valkuries - Wagner has singing. Most people have only heard the orchestral version. I laughed and laughed the first time I heard the singing, then I realized that 8 ladies were singing their collective ***** off and drowning out the orchestra, tell me that’s not cool!
Of course it’s tough to snuggle up to your sweetheart to this stuff, mine just rolls her eyes and wanders off.
Bach wrote a number of Toccata and Fugues, most are really great, hearing them played on harpsichord can really be terrific, provided that the performer has the thing in tune and the levels are set right.
Finally are we going for the sublime or the ridiculous? Classical Gas and Mozart competing in the same thread? Me may as well ask what is the best food of all time.
LOL The reason I started this thread wasn’t actually to delve into any precise judgment of music’s “instrumentals.” My motives aren’t quite that virtuous or intellectual. I simply enjoy listening to many of the classic instrumental moments and want to download them but I don’t know what they are called because they are instrumentals. Maybe someday they will create a database that lets you search for songs by humming the tune you want into a mic…hmm…but that isnt here yet. 
But nonetheless, this was a simple, enjoyable and useful thread, thanks for all of your thoughts so far.
Chivalry may be dead, but pedantry, obviously, still lives!
Rodan - “Bible Silver Corner.” One of the most chilling guitar-based pieces of music I’ve ever heard.
There is (or was) a Pittsburgh-area band called Meisha that created similarly creepy guitar-only instrumentals. I found a used CD of theirs in the Pgh area once but have otherwise had trouble tracking down their material.
Embryonic Journey, Jefferson Airplane
Take 5 and Blue Rondo ala Turk, Dave Brubeck
Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy series) could be up there, but the fact that the music is sythesized seems to stop that (and the live One Winged Angel’s vocals preclude it).
I didn’t include any classical pieces in my last post as I thought that was a thread yo itself, but it seems from your last post that that was what you really wanted. I shall therefore offer two more suggestons.
Beethoven, Grosse Fuge ( as a rough guide, if the title of a piece includes the words “Beethoven” and “string quartet” then grab it; this is the best of the bunch, in my view).
Schoenberg, Verklärte Nacht ( string sextet version)
Listen and weep.
I always liked The Horse by Nobles, Cliff (& Co.). The marching band always played it at football games. Then there was one that I think was called Fire in the Sky. It was played during drag racing commercials.
Some of my favorite instrumentals today besides those already mentioned include:
Samba Triste by Stan Getz
A Charlie Brown Christmas by Vince Guaraldi Trio
The Car Chase by James Horner
Pick up the Pieces by Average White Band
That Schindlers List Violin Solo by John Williams
Whatever that song is in the theme of Pulp Fiction.
The Boston Pops Orchestra has a good rendition of Unchained Melody that is pretty good…LOL wandering pretty far from “best ever” but o well.
The Pulp Fiction theme is “Miserlou” by Dick Dale and the Del-tones.
I’d have to second nominations for Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and American in Paris (or was that one mentioned yet?).
Also I second Edgar Winter Group’s Frankenstein. It just rocks (and I think that the vocal version done by The Ex-Boyfriends is also pretty good).
And although the instrumentals may not be technically amazing, I think that Nocturne on Songs from a Secret Garden is one of the most beautiful songs to dance a waltz to. It’s hard to do the song justice, and it’s great to see someone do a show to it well. Papillon from the same album is also an extremely good waltz.
Cobalt
I don’t see the point of mentioning classical music in this thread since such a huge portion of the work that makes up that category is instrumental. It would deserve it’s own thread.
To a lesser extent, Jazz is in the same boat. So many Jazz songs and artists are instrumental, so again, it would seem that it deserves its own thread.
So (utilizing record-store categories) that would leave rock and R&B, which are primarily composed of songs with vocal accompaniment, and for that reason, instrumentals within those categories are almost an oddity. Therefore, after that long-winded bit, I think we should restrict this thread to just those categories.
But that’s just my opinion…as are these:
La Villa Strangiato by Rush
Bron-Yr-Aur by Led Zeppelin
Freeway Jam by Jeff Beck
and the song that ushered in a new era of rock guitar
Eruption by Van Halen
Bomzaway
Best instrumental rock/blues? I nominate SRV’s Little Wing, I think I’ll go listen to it now…