Thurston's list: http://www.saucerlike.com/articles.php?x=display&id=2

As he says in the article himself, most of those are going to be damn hard to find, and the fine print above the list has his picks for crucial classics for the newbie. Also of not to anybody who doesn't know, the phrase he uses in talking about Sun Ra "Nothing Is" is in fact the title of an excellent ESP album that has been rereleased on cd, and like Heliocentric Worlds definitely has Ra and the Arkestra at their more "Free" playing style.

Seconded, although I think the following are better starting points:
Ornette Coleman - Tomorrow Is The Question*
John Coltrane - Interstellar Space
Charles Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus*
Sun Ra - Space Is The Place
*: not completely free jazz but definitely out there in that direction.

I was going to use "more accessible" in the above paragraph, but suddenly realized how stupid that would look in a thread devoted to free jazz. :D

cold bleak heat
chris corsano
for some niceness try some don cherry

i cant think right now, my mind is toast.

I sat one afternoon and went through that list on Amazon marketplace and managed to score about 8 CDs/records at reasonable prices.. Frank Wright, Dave Burrell, Arthur Doyle, Alan Silva..
Has Arthur Doyle even been mentioned yet? Probably but I can't stress enough how awesome and righteous he is. Alabama Feeling is incredible.
Speaking of Borbeto, currently spinning the recently reissued Live in Allentown CD and it's some heavy shit, would urge you all to check it out..

Also I need to give a shout out to Tight Meat Duo, which is renaissance man David Keenan on sax and Alex Neilson on drums.

such an awesome list

Quit while you're ahead. Buy the first Cramps album instead and SHAKE!

yay