When the executive director of the University of the Pacific's Brubeck Institute told an eager crowd at Copia last Saturday night we'd be listening to five of the most talented musicians in the nation any minute, he wasn't just whistlin' "Dixie."

For the third year in a row, Copia has presented the Institute's fellowship winners in concert -- to date, young men with both talent and a passion for jazz.

This year's crop of young jazzman -- ages 17-19 -- may be the finest we've seen.

For well over two hours, a sizable audience of jazz aficionados sat in their seats, slackjawed, digging the sounds.

A remarkable ensemble -- mature in music composition and performance skills well beyond their years -- served up exciting arrangements of Tin Pan Alley classics, swinging takes on works by mentor Dave Brubeck and pianist Herbie Hancock as well as some first-rate works of their own.

The 2005 quintet consists of four Americans -- pianist Glenn Zaleski, Boylston, Mass.; alto saxophonist Lucas Pino, Phoenix, Ariz.; bassist Dominic Thiroux, Los Angeles; and drummer Colin Stranahan, Denver -- and the first Canadian to join its ranks, trumpeter Brian Chahley, Toronto. This is Thiroux's second term at the Institute and 17-year-old Glenn Zaleski is the younger brother of saxophonist Brian Zaleski who was a fellow at the Institute from 2003-2005, performing at Copia twice.

This bespectacled ensemble mixed it up and duked it out with material that suited all hands. Herbie Hancock's "Toys" featured the no-holds-barred trumpet of a young man (Chahely) who deserves to be called "The Lip." Thiroux continually makes love to his bass and here offered a memorable solo that would have made the late Miroslav Vitous proud.

Saxman Lucas Pino breathed new life into the Brubeck classic, "Blue Rondo a la Turk," with Zaleski inserting his own improvisational licks.

In fact, it was Zaleski who pulled off a real coup. Had you closed your eyes midway through the second set, you would have thought you'd stumbled into a performance by a Dave Brubeck ensemble of yesteryear, with Dave tricky-fingering keys and tempo, sidekicks dishing up seductive rhythms as they went along. No, this was not not the early 1950s -- it's three of these five amazing youths dashing off a marvelous trio arrangement of a Brubeck classic.

The number that demonstrated these young men clearly understand how to play jazz came with a gorgeous arrangement of Johnny Green's classic "Body and Soul." Chahley and Pino teamed up to provide the haunting melodic sentiment, with Thiroux adding a classy bass line. As he had throughout the evening, drummer Colin Stranahan dashed off just the right percussion.

It was Stranahan who provided the best of the originals the other evening, a jazz sonata that showed off both sax and drums to best advantage. This young man -- who telegraphs his moves with his chin-whiskered flycatcher - is a fantastic drummer, full of invention yet part of a team effort.

I mean you had to scratch your head as an audience member and ask yourself the question, "What the hell was I doing at 17?" Certainly not displaying this much promise.

We looked at the future of jazz the other night and it looks "maaahvelous!" Jazz in the 21st century is in fine hands.

Remember these names -- Brian Chahley, Lucas Pino, Glenn Zaleski, Dominic Thiroux, Colin Stranahan -- because we'll be hearing from them big time in the not-too-distant future.