We love young. It seems to matter more than anything. Right now the big buzz is about a pre-teen opera singer with the voice of a 40 year old. For the first time in show history both the American Idol finalists were still in high school. Adele's first album was 19 - her age when it was released, Jamie Cullum's was Twentysomething. Now both those artists could be headed for Old and Feeble while industry mavens scour YouTube for 'tween and younger vocal phenoms. In the smooth/contemporary jazz universe the big buzz is "young, young, young," as in under 20. Precocious kids with sax or guitar in hand rolling out their best Boney/Brown influenced chops. Skilled? Yes. Entertaining? Yes. They put on solid shows and record CD's that sound like the other CD's you have. That is the problem. It takes time to develop your own voice, time in front of an audience, time in the practice room, and time spent experiencing life because knowing who you are is a big part of becoming the kind of musician who has staying power. "But isn't it great that these teens and twentysomethings are playing smooth jazz?" you ask. Surveying the bright young stars who have been crossing my in-box I would have to say "well, this one sounds like Culbertson, this one sounds like Boney, and this one sounds like Norman Brown, and this one says he wants to sound like Sanborn but he really listened to too much Kenny G in his formative years." Our current youth wave sounds too much like The Wave, imitative of what has gone before when they should be charting new paths.

New paths are being charted in abundance these days, though, and it's the "Old Guys" (and Gals) who are doing it. Ken Navarro was among the first defectors, he threw the smooth handcuffs aside in a pure burst of originality when he released The Grace of Summer Light then dug in even deeper with Dreaming of Trains. Chris Standring veered away from tasty little 3 1/2 minute riffs to the deliciously complex and conceptual Blue Bolero and Chieli Minucci, who always teased us with boundary pushing tracks buried deep in his CD's made a full beyond borders statement in Without You. Jeff Golub jumped ship and put out a blues album which did so well he's putting the finishing touches on a follow up. Spyro Gyra, Old Guys all, continue to push themselves into new musical territory. Allegedly the "young" control the cutting edge so these guys are growing "younger" every day. As are Greg and Miles from Acoustic Alchemy who are getting ready to release a new set of originals. I got a sneak preview at a recent concert and they, too, are breaking new ground. Euge Groove, one year from the Big 5-0, has a new one that is his best work yet, a refinement of all that was good about smooth as he takes the LA-centric R&B flavored side of the genre out of the safety zone. It's also his first self produced recording. Will Sumner, who is old enough to have played in fusion bands in the 70's, has the most exciting guitar album you probably haven't heard yet (get it now!) and Patrick Bradley, with compatriot Old Guy Jeff Lorber in the production chair, has put out one of the few truly original sounding keyboard albums out there (the other one is by fiftysomething Jay Rowe.) Old Gal Terri Lyne Carrington has teamed up with some other women including Old Gal Patrice Rushen for a genre busting new release featuring female musicians.

Maybe we need to forget about chasing youth and think more about chasing new and fresh, which knows no age. My feeling is that it is mostly coming from the Old Guys and Gals because they were playing contemporary jazz before it got sterilized and homogenized into this format called smooth. They had to play by the rules for a period of time in order to get airplay but they didn't lose touch with what this music can and should sound like. When the rule makers lost their grip these musicians headed back to their own identities. A lot of these young musicians grew up listening to music that played by the rules, that is their reference point and it will take a while for them to get beyond that. The good thing about jazz is that while aging pop and rock musicians usually end up recycling their “greatest hits” and becoming nostalgia acts, jazz musicians continue to grow and evolve until they pack it in. The young'uns have a lot to look forward to but right now the Old Guys own the game.