Rolling 2011 thread where I buy and listen to jazz albums for the first time ever

Can anyone please suggest contemporary ('90s - '00s), somewhat avant-garde & interesting modern jazz musicians-- in the vein of Mats Gustafsson and The Thing, Ken Vandermark / Vandermark 5, Colin Stetson, Fire! with Jim O'Rourke, the Peter Brötzmann Tentet, etc.?

Thanks...

You might like Zs. It's not really jazz, but neither is Colin Stetson arguably.

You might also like Mostly Other People Do the Killing -- Kevin Shea on drums

oh, would also check out Ches Smith's projects -- Good for Cows (metal influence upright bass/drum duo) and These Arches (featuring the awesome Mary Halvorson on Guitar).

Oh and you kind of need to listen to William Parker/Hamid Drake if you don't already

Thanks much! i've already got Parker/Drake on my radar, heard Zs a bit but never really listened, but the others are new to me...

anyone else help out?

Vijay Iyer? David S. Ware?

They're not quite like the people you mentioned now but, based on your other descriptions of what you like ("stuff that moves and breathes and evolves slowly as it unfolds"), E. S. T. (Esbjorn Svensson Trio) and Steve Lehman Octet might appeal to you.

Do you know Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot, Nels Cline?

See if you can find some Tim Posgate.

If you want something really slow and druggy, maybe try Tord Gustavsen.

Evan Parker of course. His trio with Barry Guy and Paul Lytton is killer.

really enjoyed the performance by lllλ - seymour wright on sax, paul abbott on drums, Daichi Yoshikama on electronics - that i saw recently, dunno if they've got any recs out yet - super-crunchy free jazz pummelling

Oh, and Evan Parker made a great trio recording with Eddie Prévost out of AMM and John Edwards, All Told.

I don't think I've ever heard Evan Parker's actual jazz recordings. I've only listened to his non-idiomatic improv stuff + the disc with Jah Wobble.

Today, I'm pulling out this relatively unsung Swedish album from 2004 that I really enjoyed and it still holds up quite well (besides also reminding me of a time when I went to see live music): http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7681280&style=music

They put on a great performance in Ottawa that year, described pretty well here: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=14138&pg=5#.Ub-ifhaJzZg

Parker/Drake in general deserve attention. Associated with that crowd, I would also pick out Matthew Shipp. sund4r mentioned E.S.T. I particularly liked Leucocyte.

I'm still a fan of 2003's Assif Tsahar/Cooper-Moore album America (but you might like those two in general).

Maybe a bit off topic, but I've been finding myself going back to Richard Gallo's Urdimbres y Maranas and thinking it's almost as good as I initially thought it was.