I'm too hard on jazz guitar, in general.
I've always heard jazz guitar as a second-string jazz instrument (so to speak) after the major brass (cornet, trumpet) and winds (alto and tenor sax), and of course piano, bass, and drums.
In other words, to my ears, no jazz guitarist has had the impact on the artform equal to that of Armstrong, Ellington, Parker, Miles, Bill Evans, Billie Holiday, and the other obvious world-historical Great Ones.
To my ears, the question has always been should a guitarist play like a:
--single-note horn-player (ie, mimic Charlie Parker);
--embrace a rhythmic role (in the Freddie Green tradition with Count Basie);
--play in a pianistic style (which is how I hear classical guitar-derived stylists, or the electric styles of Joe Pass);
--play in a blues-laced style
--mix all of the above
--or find a new voice for the sonic potentials of the electric guitar, following the revolutionary example of Jimi Hendrix (here I'm thinking of Sonny Sharrock, Bill Frisell, but also Pat Metheny, and J Scofield).
That said, the guitarists who wow me regularly (on particular albums) are probably
Jim Hall
Egberto Gismonti
Pat Metheny
Kenny Burrell
Brandon Ross
Wes Montgomery
