Jazz

During Black History Month, I was researching Black owned fragrance brands and came across Zernell Gillie. This is one of the few Black-owned brands that are US-based, that ship to Canada, so, I jumped at the opportunity to order the discovery set. When I received my package and tested each fragrance out, there were a couple that really stood out to me; "Disco" and "Jazz". The funny thing is that out of all of the samples, Jazz was initially the one I disliked the most. When I sprayed it on a testing-strip, I got an overwhelming urinal-cake smell. I immediately put the strip to the side to test out the others, and once I'd tested them all, I went back to each strip to rank them. To my surprise, Jazz had completely changed during its dry-down. What initially started out as a very screechy and pungent odour, was now totally smooth. I went from being completely repulsed by it, to now being completely in love with it. I also forgot my first rule of fragrance testing, which is to never judge a fragrance upon first spray. You need to do three things before you can properly make your mind up about a fragrance; 1) you have to let it dry completely, 2) you have to try it on your skin, and 3) you have to let it mix with outside, open air. The following day, I sprayed it on my skin and clothing, and was enamoured by the cloud of smooth/boozy/sweetness that enveloped me. This scent is absolutely gorgeous! The scent profile is not anything new or innovative, it smells unique and different, while still being familiar. The most identifiable notes in Jazz are definitely the honey and bourbon vanilla. They're mixed with a red mandarin note that is strong during the opening, but that goes away pretty quickly once the dry-down starts to happen. I'm pretty sure it was this combination that made it smell like a urinal-cake on the testing paper. Tobacco is also present, and while we've seen the tobacco/honey/vanilla combo a million times, this doesn't feel redundant at all. There is also a cacao note that some may think when coupled with the honey note, might make this lean into gourmand territory, but it never does. It just adds this smoothness to Jazz that really helps exemplify its name. The ambergris and white musk also give a depth and heaviness that works remarkably well. Zernell hit it out of the park by naming it "Jazz", because if jazz music has a smell, it would totally be this; smooth, classy, sophisticated, yet still very much youthful. I loved the sample size so much that I decided to buy a full bottle. The biggest size they offer is 30ml for $150 USD, which I thought was outrageous, but the fragrance is so good, that I bit the bullet anyway. Let me tell you, 30ml is more than enough. Jazz is undeniably beast mode territory; the projection, longevity, and sillage are through the roof. You truly don't need more than 3 sprays to get you through the day, and then some. The composition is so dense that you'll most likely find it lingers on you overnight. You definitely do not need to overspray or reapply this. This is perfectly suited for fall and winter evenings. It's also a real head-turner; compliments galore! If you're looking to step out and make a statement, look no further than Jazz.

Finally! I was worried about myself for a couple of months there. I thought I was losing my interest in fragrances because nothing was inspiring me. I purchased hundreds of samples from lucky and almost every single new release. Nothing was really doing it for me. I even tried rogue smoking extract which I thought was really good. It did not excite me, but I thought that was the best I was going to get as far as my reaction. Perhaps I am just not thrilled anymore. Boy oh boy is that not true! Jazz is awesome. Jazz is everything that by the fireplace should be and a perfect example as to how little people understand Great fragrances. This is sexy. Jazz club should give up his name and hand it over. This is executed brilliantly. There is a juicy tart red Mandarin that is mixed with Cocoa powder and creates a luscious concoction you have to smell to believe. Structured behind that is the tobacco and mahogany. But also exists is the honey and resin that all together Play a Symphony. It's magical. I try hundreds and hundreds fragrances from countless different brands every month and this stands out from all! I am aware that I have been missing in action over the holidays. I have been here in fact. But I have been uninspired. Gourmand fragrances have to stop! They are killing the creativity of our fragrance houses. Although yes Jazz is more or less a gourmand fragrance, it runs the line very sharply and if I had to choose I would put this more in a sweet tobacco category before anything else. The complexity here gives it freedom and the artistic behavior behind it gives the fragrance Spirit. It has a soul and that is all I ask. Well worth the price. Go and get it you will not be sorry.

First proper sampling of Jazz, a 2024 release by Zernell Gillie, whose fragrances (so far) are inspired by genres of music. This is centered around a trio of honey, bourbon, and vanilla—sweet, smooth, boozy, and creamy—and accented by white musk, cacao, and ambergris. So it has a bit of a resinous, animalic-adjacent aspect that colors the largely gourmand center, conjuring perhaps the beverages and environs of jazz club at evening, very classy, harkening back to something a bit classic and boozy while still feeling modernly stylish and wearable, especially in a similar such setting. I like the vague salty suggestion of something environmental, a garnish, perhaps something savory or woody or herbal complementing the whiskeyish beverage. It’s probably my very favorite of the entire line to date based on the limited amounts I’ve smelled the other earlier entries. Jazz is extrait concentration like the rest of the line, priced at $120 for 30ml, sold in the US on the house website as well as via great boutiques like Perfumology. 8 out of 10

I have finally found my perfect tobacco fragrance! Like all Zernell Gillie’s fragrances, this is a delightful journey and my favorite from the line. It opens with a delicious sweet mandarin mixed with honey. It then shifts into an oaky mahogany amber which then morphs into a lovely vanilla tobacco deepened by the sweet myrrh and musk. I can’t make out the cacao but I think that’s because it is so well blended. The end of the dry down is a powdery tobacco on my skin. It’s just captivating! Finally a tobacco that is clear and realistic but not like stuffing your face in a bag of dried processed leaves. Bonus is a friend of mine and I went to a celebration event at our local niche perfume boutique and Zellner was there signing bottles. He was so friendly and kind - chatting with everyone. What an absolute treat for perfume nerds like us! And a joy to celebrate small businesses and artists.

Oh my god. I blind smelled this without reading the notes or name first. At first I thought it smelled safe. I could only distinguish the leather. After a few minutes the notes started developing and this turned into the sexiest fragrance I’ve smelled. I’m immediately buying a full size bottle for my husband. This is s-e-x-yyyyyyyyy. It takes notes often found in designer men fragrance, but just elevates them to another level. It’s a beautiful blend. Tobacco leather and a very subtle cocoa. It does cross the line very subtly with gourmand as the comment below me says. Reminds me of Guerlain honey tobacco, just more complex and masculine. Truly unisex fragrance though.

Aa a jazzhead, this fragrance is quite apropos for me, and the notes are indeed phenomenal. The balsamic, spicy sensation of opoponax, the halcyon coziness of Bourbon vanilla, the regality of mahogany, the animalic prowess of white musk, and the other wonderful notes round off this melodic composition. When I first applied this scent, I was immediately transported to The Green Lounge, a popular jazz club in Kansas City, watching a live jazz performance with an Old Fashioned cocktail. I will definitely be enjoying this olfactory beauty for a long time. Kudos to DJ Zernell for this fragrant masterpiece.

Absolutely love. A sweet, boozy, ambery, slightly woody perfume that feels unique and well blended. Seems to be very favorable by both male and female, but I do see this as a slighty feminine leaning perfume. Definitely a "night out at the club" vibe, and the roundness of this fragrance makes it not heady and won't blow up a room, but you will for sure get noticed wearing this out. My first from Zernell, I plan on taking a look at House and Hip-Hop next as I am very pleased with this one

Some jazz-themed perfumes evoke the seedy dives frequented by Charles Mingus; this evokes the elegant nightclubs where Duke Ellington would perform. The dominant note is deep and warm mahogany, but there's also some sweetness (though not too much) with bourbon vanilla and honey, and, best of all, some rich smooth opoponax. This is a truly sophisticated nighttime fragrance made from what smell like high-quality ingredients. A great fragrance for impressing a date on a dressed-up occasion.

this is why i love fragrance. jazz is an entire experience. it’s full, creamy, sweet but not cloying. the honey tobacco vanilla combo is gorgeous. i definitely get the mahogany and ambergris too. the scent changes beautifully throughout the wear while remaining full and hugging/blending into the skin. wish i had gotten this sooner and not at the beginning of summer bc i want to wear it all the time

It's a lovely scent in my opinion and was exactly what I was looking for. For me, it's a unique date night scent that is very sweet but dries down into something masculine and ambery. It does make me reminisce of a jazz club, and it's something that starts conversations when worn.

This is a love for me. This will be my second purchase from this house with Blues being my first. The more I smell this the more I fall in love with it. I have several tobacco fragrances in my collection but it's just something about this one. Well done!

This is just incredibly good. A smooth, nutty and boozy gourmand. This puts jazz club in a body bag. The rest of the house is amazing too but this is probably the best one. Hip hop is super super good as well.

This is the much higher quality alternative to something like Jazz Club. This is much richer and more complex. No brainer, easy to wear and attracts attention. Performance is stellar.

Absolutely amazing. I have the entire line and love them all! I’m at a point where anything ZG puts out is an automatic blind buy for me. Guy’s a genius. Absolute banger!

yes this is a daddy scent. if comparing to jazz club this is ancestral, while jazz club is hipster coded. i love jazz club thats why i tried this. and i love both.

Very warm and inviting. The alcohol inst overpowering at all, rather, the mingle of fruits comes through strong, and pleasantly delivering.

One of my faves! Really warm and sweet, but also woody and just a little bit spicy. Women constantly compliment this.

Its similar to side effect, but so much better, sweet booze and very good impression of jazz.

Beautiful, one of my signature nighttime scents. Very boozy and the perfect amount of sweet.

Beautiful musky, woody, vanilla

In the opening I pick up creamy sweet notes. Like honey and zingy orange/ginger have been folded into milky full fat butter. It is appealing as far as gourmand fragrances go. Eye catching and well blended. I’m not getting all the dark bass tobacco, cacao, bourbony stuff as much. To me, this is very much operating in the mid range. The smell I get is always “white” but like a “heavy white.” There are some woody inflections but I think they are in the passenger seat. The ambergris is also present and works very well here. I think the ambergris is what takes it to the next level. It is just a little briney and round to offset the sweet honey which can often be shrill. A nice smell for people with a sweet tooth. I find it unisex. 8.0/10

I got this as a blind buy in the 10ml 3-pack off of ZG's website. I honestly don't think it's all that amazing or any better than Jazz Club, but I was clerking at a cat show this weekend, and several women kept asking who smelled so good when they passed by me - I got more compliments in regards to fragrance than I usually ever get. I guess I'll have to save this for cat show weekends.

jazz club and by the fireplace by maison margiela should be taking notes. this stuff is gorgeous, and seems like a beautiful mix of the two. boozy, a little smoky, and sweeeeet. really really good stuff for the winter time, but found out about it too late for me to get wears out of it. will be purchasing if its stands the test of time. 9/10

I really enjoy this scent, but I find it a bit redundant if you already have Herod or Jazz Club. I prefer the complexity of Herod, and believe that Jazz Club does this scent profile a little better. Not a fan of the powder or the ambery dry down, and it also has a waxy quality to it that I'm not into, but I do love the citrusy notes.

Jazz is yummy. It reminds me of Jazz Club but it's sweeter and more feminine, but still unisex. It's somehow delicious without being gourmand. In the drydown, it is entirely different from Jazz Club― it's rich, sweet, and feminine.

Jazz is nice, because it smells about like what you might expect: oak, honey, vanilla, sweet tobacco, and powder. On the sweeter end, but not too sweet. You don't need much and it lasts 12ish hours.

Similar to Herod or Jazz Club, but not redundant in my opinion. This is a bit richer and more provocative.

Really nice juicy amber experience with moderate longevity and sillage.

Going to be honest with this one. I didn’t think it’s that special, especially if you’re not a fan of boozy accords. This is your typically ambery/vanilla tobacco but done slightly nicer and more refined than the typical house. My main complaint with this one is that the drydown is very screechy Amber, something I’ve been particularly sensitive and annoyed by lately. I think that’s the trade off when creating a fragrance like this one that lasts 10+ hours. I still prefer fragrances like jazz club and pavilion rouge for this type of scent profile. I think they’re a bit more rounded

It always smells like Blistex DCT at first to me. Gains some prestige on the dry-down, then immediately loses it with the onslaught of some random popcorn note after wearing it for a bit. Somehow, I keep coming back to it with intrigue: what dissonant chimera of notes will I pick out next? In that way, it does emulate jazz.

Smells a bit like VapoRub, my girlfriend described it as "a punch to the face" upon initial sniff. Got a few compliments from others, though, so it seems like a love/hate deal

This is so nice...this is a beautiful, complex, multilayered spiced tobacco gourmand scent. You get a dry tobacco that is very tame, very subtle, surrounded by creamy honey and vanilla accords, I don't get much cacao, but it is definitely there...the ambergris is well behaved, the woody notes feel clean and light. There is some sort of fluffy musk in the drydown. It just feels like a cozy blanket and would love to smell this on a handsome man. A handsome man I would love to hug.

holy fuck this is so good😭 the notes give you a good idea of what this smells like by just looking at them tbh, but there’s surprisingly no smokey or absurdly boozy aspects to this. the honey is pretty prevalent on my skin but it’s a great vanilla scent for sure, super hard to dislike. super potent too, i mean 15ml of this is just the perfume oil which is so absurd lol.

This is a sexy, boozy and indulgent extrait that lasts so long! It's a thick and saccharine vanilla-honey that's grounded by the mahogany and tobacco. It's very strong however, and could definitely be too sweet for some, if I spray too much it can become cloying so I spray very intentionally. A beautiful scent that perfectly captures the essence of jazz music.

Vanilla-d woods musk and amber. The honey is also there, but the other notes are quite distant. Nothing in this smells high quality or like anything you can't find in a cheaper fragrance. There are much more interesting vanillas out there

Sweet bright honey, dark cocoa pods and sea side foam. Real sea shells and sea shell shaped soaps. I love dark vanilla boozy scents right now and am so bummed out that I didn’t get the same olfactive experience as other people with this.

It starts rich and smoky, which is why I bought some for my boyfriend. However, it does get kind of sweet vanilla candle-ish in the drydown, and I'm not sure if that's a dealbreaker for him. I can see why so many people like it though!

Has a lot more citrus mandarin than I thought , but I love this for winter