Hahahaha,
Some Marsalis, some Benson, some "Wise One" some Washington and of course you gotta get Miles ahead of them all.
So who was/is your favorite artist and which album could you not live without? Do you think the Marsalis have been good or bad for jazz?
I think that jazz for some time has been diversifying and adapting to different cultures around the globe, and that includes British and European jazz. If you look back to the 60s and 70s, most British/European jazz was just a lesser imitation of American jazz. There were some fine musicians playing, but they weren't saying anything that hadn't been already said, better, by somebody else. Even a fine musician like Stan Tracey (and Sonny Rollins was still paying tribute to him last year) just sounds like someone who really likes Monk and Ellington but doesn't have anything to add to what they said.
But around the world over the last 20 or 30 years, jazz has been taking on the attributes of the various cultures where it has been played, and musicians have been stepping out of the American shadow to say something new and original. In South Africa, Abdullah Ibrahim and others have been using distinctively African melodies and rhythms. In the UK, Courtney Pine has been incorporating the soul and reggae which were part of his musical upbringing, and Soweto Kinch has been bringing in hip-hop and rap. So also in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, where improvising musicians are drawing upon their own musical roots to make music which hasn't been heard before.
Also, I recently saw saw Jan Garbarek live in Prague, Czech republic and would advise people to swim through crocodile infested lakes and run across minefields to catch him on his current tour, as he is absolutely on fire, and so is his band, even if (sadly) it no longer features Eberhard Weber. That man can do more with one note than most can do with 1000!
And speaking of Miles..well I could go on til morning...........