Drummers - my wife, and Peter Erskine. There are very few improvisational drummers around.
Pianists, John O'Conor, Malcolm Frager, George Winston
George Winston's Night Divides the Day album of The Doors music is probably my favorite popular solo piano recording. The man is awesome. O'Conor's performances of the 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas are my favorites, and I'm such of a fan of that music that I own several different recordings of them. (No, I haven't gone for treatment yet.) Frager's recordings are rather rare, but his playing is remarkable and powerful.
In more popular music, Dave Grusin also did a solo piano album of arrangements of his own movie scores that is very interesting. (Now Playing)