As far as contemporary improvisation, the one that just towers above all others is Evan Parker, Barry Guy and Paul Lytton.
Anyone with an interest in this format and improvisation of any kind needs to be aware of how far they pushed things. It is more a matter of dealing with what they set forth than making an aesthetic judgement.
The levels of virtuosity, harmonic, rhythmic and textural interaction just surpass everyone else.
As far as Emusic, "Imaginary Values" is a good place to start:
http://www.emusic.com/album/Barry-Guy-Imaginary-Values-MP3-Download/11292039.html
"Zafiro" is the most recent:
http://www.emusic.com/album/Barry-Guy-Zafiro-MP3-Download/11292420.html
The only youtubes seem to have them joined by Agusti Fernandez:
Anyone with an interest in this format and improvisation of any kind needs to be aware of how far they pushed things. It is more a matter of dealing with what they set forth than making an aesthetic judgement.
The levels of virtuosity, harmonic, rhythmic and textural interaction just surpass everyone else.
As far as Emusic, "Imaginary Values" is a good place to start:
http://www.emusic.com/album/Barry-Guy-Imaginary-Values-MP3-Download/11292039.html
"Zafiro" is the most recent:
http://www.emusic.com/album/Barry-Guy-Zafiro-MP3-Download/11292420.html
The only youtubes seem to have them joined by Agusti Fernandez:
