52 years old.....been listening maybe 15 years. Started out with very catchy stuff like Spyro Gyra, Rippingtons, Acoustic Alchemy...all of which I still like and listen to.... always leaned more contemporary than smooth (which I hate). Never got into Bony James, Rick Braun, Dave Koz, Candy Dulfer, etc....YUCH!.
Then I transitioned to more forward thinking jazz like Metheny, Stern, Schofield, Ponty, Dimeola, Christian Scott, Herbie Hancock, etc....then to some straight ahead stuff. But I generally stick to current contemporary stuff...but NOT smooth jazz. (Brian Blade, Kurt Rosenwinkle, Jason Moran , Christian McBride, Antonio Sanchez, Mike Moreno, Metheny to name a couple). Pat Metheny being by far my most admired and respected musician alive today. He does and offers so much to the genre but I know many don't care for him. I think he's a living legend at his craft.
I am fascinated by the musical minds and skills of jazz musicians versus guys I use to idolize in the "ROCK" genre. Like night and day.
But I do still occasionally pull out some Rush, Todd Rundgren, Genesis, Swing Out Sister, Tori Amos, Joni Mitchell, Sting, Deep Purple, Grand Funk....classic sort of stuff.
I'm a music lover...period.