Channeling Jazz, of Sorts.

The line outside Le Poisson Rouge on Tuesday night wrapped around the block for a CMJ Music Marathon showcase with the header ''Future Now.'' The question this seemed to invite was: Could ''jazz'' actually be making an impression this year? Let's be clear: ''Future Now'' wasn't really a jazz showcase, even if all three acts on the bill -- the Robert Glasper Experiment, and the vocalists Jose James and Taylor McFerrin -- have varying degrees of jazz experience. The show's compass pointed more toward sleek and stylishly woozy electro-soul, after the example of the influential producer J Dilla. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]