Traditionally I wear Kouros in September, as I have for the last three years, but this year I have a new fougère to play with. Personal circumstances have led to a need for a fresher, more discreet fougère, so I have turned to Jazz by YSL. I think it's an excellent fragrance. Whenever you have a classical fougère structure of lavender, coumarin, oakmoss, and musk, you have a winning formula, and adding generous notes of coriander, artemisia, patchouli, tobacco, and cedar only enhances its beauty tenfold. Jazz is also historically significant, having been released in 1988, the same year as Cool Water. Many have pointed out that if Davidoff had not released its extremely fresh aromatic fougère, fragrances like Jazz and Tsar (1989) would have dominated the nineties instead. I really think this view applies more to Jazz than anything else, because unlike its contemporaries, it features a brightness, a dihydromyrcenol-fueled freshness that speaks to the laundered, hygienic mindset that had taken hold by the end of the eighties. Jazz also surpasses Tsar, Eternity, and Safari in quality and complexity.
Tsar resembles Jazz more than any other aromatic. I think of Tsar as being Jazz after a hike through a forest in Russia, while wearing a ushanka, and drinking cold Medovukha from a burlap flask. Tsar has a richer evergreen accord, a louder sandalwood note, more patchouli and juniper berries, and a more muddled tobacco. Jazz possesses a cleaner profile, with brisk lavender at the tippy-top, followed by stunningly realistic renditions of coriander and nutmeg, which smell like I literally sprinkled these spices on my skin. A soft pipe tobacco note arrives later on, accompanied by artemisia, basil, patchouli, cardamom, cedar, moss, and musk. As expected of YSL, the use of artemisia here is brilliant, and gives Jazz its woody snap. The composition is fairly tight, but note separation is terrific, and an impressive array of woods and herbs keeps it smelling multi-dimensional even into the far drydown. When I first sampled Jazz, I was afraid its drydown would be too thin and cheap, but wearing it proved to be a different experience altogether. I also smell the dihydromyrcenol in the top notes, and there is a very slight discordant quality to it, as if the metallic freshness of your average nineties deodorant were trying to wrestle the relatively mature proceedings into submission, but it only lasts a few seconds before balancing out and becoming a true lavender note.
Some have suggested that Jazz has been reformulated badly in recent years, as there is a newer "La Collection" version, courtesy of L'Oreal. I don't really know about that. I have the version pictured above, and this version is still available everywhere you go. Unlike a lot of fragrances, Jazz is something to buy at brick and mortar stores, rather than on the internet. Your local mall has a perfume shop, and in that shop sits a bottle or two of older vintage Jazz. You might end up paying $45 for it instead of the $35 it sells for online, but the newest version is actually twenty dollars more expensive for no discernible reason (and you get less), which is a bad deal - why spend $65 on it? Anyway, I'm glad they still make this stuff, because it's a perfect example of a natural-smelling fougère that works well at the office, at family picnics, on dates, at church services, and just about anywhere a man can be. They really don't make 'em any more versatile, interesting, or pleasing than this. Jazz is one of the greatest fresh fougères ever made.