Jazz (1988)
by Yves Saint Laurent

Jazz opens up with some spices mixed with an herbal tone making possible to sense an acid aroma which thankfully doesn't last a long time.

After about 5 minutes, bergamot kicks in giving a citric chord to this fragrance which combined with a gorgeous floral heart, makes this a very clean and peaceful fragrance that projects good enough and stays for quite a good time on skin as well.

8th September, 2011. (Last Edited: 3rd October, 2011.)

Jazz is a great illustration of the point that the aromatic fougère of the 70s-80s had reached before Cool Water changed the rules. It has a warm spicy opening (cardamom, cinnamon) that plays against the artemesia that becomes noticeable at the end of the top notes. The artemesia holds strong and seamlessly ushers in the longer-lasting notes that define the heart and base, the coumarin, moss, cedar, tobacco.

Jazz has a major/minor chord interaction that maintains my interest as it unfolds. It’s a bit too blended to be one of the strident fougères like Azzaro pour Homme that preceded it and Troisième Homme that followed it. Still it is an aromatic fougère of the old school and feels warm and enveloping rather than limpid, fresh and sweet/tart like Cool Water.

Where would the aromatic fougère have gone without the ascendance of dyhydromyrcenol? Jazz, while lovely, seems like one of those genealogical lines identified by archeology that became extinct when the faster, more viable predator (Cool Water) was better able to cull its prey, the male herd of the late 80s/early 90s.

19th August, 2011.

This is an interesting old-school fougere, to be sure. It is a bit more brown and "dirty" than I care for, but I think it is a good scent and it has many fans. Mossy, a bit spicy and leathery. For a while the geranium-rose note was very pleasant, but it was brief. I like a greener fougere, but this is OK and worth checking out.

27th July, 2011.

Jazz is a better fougere than you would think. It is extremely clear and extremely to the point. No fluff here. Jazz opens with a bright citrus/spice blast and then displays the standard fougere lavender-geranium accord with aplomb. The heart is spicy and floral with a coumarin, sanaldwood, and amber base. Very nice, very conservative, and very well-thought. Many reviewers point out that this was run of the mill when it came out, but after the terrible releases of the 90s, this floral aromatic fougere is more than welcome. Jazz carries moderate longevity and moderate sillage, unusual of a 1980s fragrance if applied sparingly. Give it a try.

5th March, 2011.

A leathery, woody, dry juice full of nostalgia, to me at least.
This scent reminds the early 90's with their bonfires on the beach, the crazy parties, the general well-being, the trips by motorbikes, the mega discos and the dreamy music. At that time i was  a free spirit and one of my fragrances was Jazz. While i still appreciate this particular fragrance which stimulates my nostalgia i prefer to set it as a stable stone of memories choosing different fragrances for my current life out. The top and the middle notes are all sour elements (citruses and green notes), flowers (as a general favorite  of mine like geranium) and spices. The base notes of this scent are woody, leathery, ambery and mossy. The last two elements, amber and musks, understate the otherwise too dry and sharp smell infusing a smooth and soapy touch. A central role in the fragrance is played by flowers, clearly detectable as link between the citric opening and the woody, leathery, ambery base, and by leather which i perceive after hours with its smooth, sensual, animal feel. Sillage in Jazz is impressive, you perceive its presence for metres.

18th January, 2011. (Last Edited: 4th August, 2011.)

It's pleasant, and probably great if you like woody fragrances, I'm just not crazy about it.

15th November, 2010.