Well, I of course have to do my part in paying homage to modern Classical music: Jazz.
Let's see, there's Ragtime, Dixieland, Blues, Swing/Big Band, Bebop, Cool Jazz, Modal Jazz, Free Jazz, Fusion, Soul, Hip Hop, Smooth/Contemporary Jazz.
My favorite artists/composers are Louis Armstrong (without whom the subsequent music generations probably wouldn't have existed), Duke Ellington (obviously the greatest American composer), Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck/Paul Desmond, Thelonious Monk, Tower of Power (soul/hip hop group), Herbie Hancock, SpyroGyra (contemporary/fusion group).
I can really listen to any kind of music depending on my mood. My least favorites though are Country, Rap, Heavy Metal and Hard Rock (Metallica). I think saying any form is not music is fallacious because music is the way in which we convey our thoughts and emotions. Mozart and Eminem are both musicians in the same way that Chaucer and e.e. cummings are both poets. I tend to consider wordless music superior because you actually have to listen to the music to find the message. And we've discussed before that language is limited in portraying a thought (especially across many languages) but pure music can sometimes fill in those gaps in language to adequately get the message across.
I have many more thoughts on this subject, but I'm not finding the words to say them, so I'll just hum them to myself.
