I won't try to make a very long list myself, as
the number of extremely fine players is long and
impressive, and I find that making distinctions between a
whole long lot of them after the very top becomes
something that is also extremely fine.
But, I've
seen most of the history of this game, at any rate,
and my candidates for the absolute pinnacle would
be:
1. Tom Waters
2. Andrew Yaphe
3. Jeff
Johnson
4. Don Windham
5. John Sheahan
6. Jim
Dendy
7. R. Robert Hentzel (peaking after student
days)
After that, I despair of being fair among many many
superb players for whom I have tremendous respect, but
the above seven have seemed to me a cut above all the
rest.