Hot Scene: The Return to Laurel Canyon

"It's not a coincidence that all these people have gravitated to this place," says Barry Goldberg, a keyboardist and songwriter who played with Mike Bloomfield's Electric Flag and on Crazy Horse's Crazy Moon back in the day, and who still lives in the Canyon and plays at Wilson's jams. "There's something very special about the Canyon.

"First time I went to Jonathan Wilson's house and walked through the beaded curtain, I almost had a flashback," he says. "I started crying because of how proud I was of these kids for carrying it on with reverence and not just bullshit or jive."

The musical influences vary from blues to folk to Motown, and some of the players prefer solo Crosby albums over solo Nash albums, but they all articulate a desire to make music in a free-spirited, collaborative way. "It's such a beautiful place, in the middle of brutal Hollywood traffic," says the Whispertown 2000 singer Morgan Nagler. "We call Jenny's house a Xanax. You get there, and all you wanna do is go outside and play guitar."

This could easily devolve into a re-enactment of Sixties clichés if not for the fact that the jams are frequented by original talents who are seeking a deep connection to the music and that most intangible of forces: the vibe, man. "They want to be loose, like we did," says Goldberg. "They want to have the freedom to groove their own grooving. And to groove with them, to me, is really special."

"I've never seen such a group of people get together, just for the simple reason to make great music and enjoy it," says Louris, whose recent solo album features Wilson, the Chapins and Lewis. "I think they're a little anachronistic. Wilson's the mad genius and the moderator. Farmer Dave brings this tripped-out quality to things, but in a good way." Louris notes Lewis could be the Emmylou Harris.

Wilson started putting together impromptu jams three years ago, after he moved into the house on Laurel Canyon Blvd. A North Carolina-bred singer-songwriter whose old band, Muscadine, put out one major-label album and a live EP, Wilson says he wasn't chasing the Canyon legacy, but he was definitely looking for a community. In the early 2000s he spent a few years camped out with 125 other hippies in bunch of shacks and shantys they built in Topanga. It ain't cheap to live in Laurel Canyon, but Wilson has a thriving business making faux-vintage guitars for clients including Maroon 5 and Aerosmith, and he runs his shop out of the back of his house.