Well, I don't think I'm the best person to ask that question because my interests gravitate more to old-school material.
There is some contemporary stuff I like, and its great fun to find it because its new, but I don't think on the whole it compares to the achievements of the past.
You might like to check out the BBC board where they've been discussing some of the best jazz of 07, then researching the names in YouTube or Google. The thing about that place is, although its repetitive and claustrophobic and full of personal agendas (the same idea gets repeated about 20 times), it tends to be old school where ideas about jazz are fairly defined, different from the mainstream jazz culture where cabaret singers, funksters and what-not get pronounced as 'jazz'.
Ian Thurmwood at the BBC board is a nice fella and very knowledgeable, and he's got some ideas about the contemporary scene which are positive and enthusiastic.
I've found I quite like some of Andrew Hill and Michael Brecker, and one or two quirky little unknown bands such as these fellas who I've heard live:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=40256874A young lady in the audience had a constant big grin on her face, which perhaps sums up some of their appeal: its fun, not deadly jazz-serious, but also musically accomplished.
These guys have got some publicity (from R3 amongst others) and seem OK, though its not really to my taste for sustained listening:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=75447732And there's Gwilym Simcock, who's getting lots of publicity and I find OK but a bit too classical-oriented:
http://www.gwilymsimcock.com/
