The Rochester International Jazz Fest has "grown both in breadth and quality?" City Paper, I understand that you want to foster and support what few outlets of culture seem to be growing in Rochester. But part of that support implies doing the work of criticizing our community's projects when they appear to be headed in the wrong direction.

The other day I was listening to "Squeeze Me" by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five. I thought to myself: with its bouncy, driving, jagged rhythms, its crazy, joyous horn swoops, and its wickedly sexy lyrics, this music once sounded as wild, as bizarre, as shocking and scary as anything by the Sex Pistols or Boredoms. Listen to it the right way, and it still does.

Jazz, real jazz, is the most dangerous music in the world. Jazz is a howl from the brothel, a spasm of pain and ecstasy and rage and laughter all at once. The danger in jazz, absent from formulaic pop music, is that one has no idea what will come next. That's what made the genius of musicians like Thelonius Monk so difficult to distinguish from insanity. Not their traditionalism, but their originality - the fact that their music seemed to come out of nowhere - is what made them true creators of jazz, the essence of which is creativity and spontaneity.

But in the line-up of this year's "jazz fest," nothing is dangerous. It's all smoothed-over cross-over music, made palatable and safe for a mainstream audience, pushed very far in the direction of pop, away from jazz. While academic smooth jazzers like that Herbie-Hancock-wannabe, Geri Allen, bring jazz into the elevator and the waiting room, Wynton Marsalis and his ilk repackage their inability to come up with a new idea into a new traditionalism. In fact, they do a great disservice to the tradition by rendering it sterile and lifeless.

Jazz lovers of the world should be demanding their music back, as Native Americans protest against their sacred burials being profaned and put on display in European museums.

With all due respect, do we really have a jazz fest here? King Solomon Burke is one of the greats of 20th-century music, whose style might be construed loosely as being associated with the "jump blues" of the 40's and 50's, but to call this unimprovised music jazz is really pushing it. It's more like country-tinged soul.

Sure, Dr. John has been attentive to his New Orleans roots, but can you really call his music jazz? Bettye Lavette is a moving soul singer, but not anything like a jazz musician. Jerry Lee Lewis? Rusted Root? Shooter Jennings? Shooter Jennings, for crying out loud?

But it's not just these big names. With my own limited knowledge, I can count at least 20 acts whose status as "jazz" musicians is highly dubious. Much of it is soul, Latin, rock "jam bands," African traditional music, and God knows what else. I listened to the sound clip of Saskia Laroo - what on earth is that? A cheesy electronic drum beat and some peppy European voices repeating the phrase "Jazz 'n' Jam!" endlessly. It sounds like a weird Mentos commercial.

Playing jazz is an economically risky proposition. (Remember when Charles Mingus was evicted from his apartment?) For the thousands of musicians who are truly dedicated to jazz, and who almost universally struggle to get by, calling Rusted Root and Shooter Jennings "jazz" really adds insult to injury.

Actually, the Jazz Fest should probably just be renamed. But what category does all of this music fit into? Since all they seem to be excluding is contemporary rock and hip-hop - music for young, urban people, which might cause a disturbance in the city - how about "The Rochester International Festival of Music for Elderly Suburbanites" or "The Rochester International Festival of Music that Doesn't Offend You Unless You Actually Listen to It"?

All I can say is, the only genuine big names for jazz buffs - Don Byron, Trio Beyond, Benny Golson, Dave Brubeck - had better be great. And perhaps some of the Scandinavian acts, like Lotte Anker or Zanussi 5 may prove interesting. They, and the local Rochester artists featured - who are totally exempted from the above tirade, and deserve all the support we can give them - are all that keeps this from being completely boring.

Come on, Rochester! We're a pretty hip place, with one of the most competitive music schools in the country, and a vibrant independent music scene, to boot. Are we going to let the Jazz Fest treat us with such insulting condescension?

Ian Downey, Field Street, Rochester