Best American music of the last 25 years?

Americans invented jazz, but clearly almost nobody here listens to it. I do, and for me (even having been a non jazz musician for a very long time) pretty much everything listed here seems kinda lame and simple compared to the brilliant jazz around these days. Suggestion: Listen to some of Wilco's Nels Cline's non Wilco stuff, especially what he's done with Julian Lage.

Note that Frank Zappa and Steely Dan have zero in common. Frank simply didn’t care about any opinions regarding his complex and often unlistenable compositions, where Becker and Fagan were obsessing over every semitone to come up with funky yet cerebral pop songs that others may actually like. Their stuff still holds up, although for many it’s simply too complex...or something (my wife hates Fagan, but that could be related to some historic personal trauma or something). It’s the alleged modern "Americana" thing that often seems "lame and simple" which is not to say some talented players aren’t utilized like the aforementioned Nels Cline. I’ve worked as a live sound mixer/recording engineer with some astonishing people in the "singer-songwriter" or "folkie" world...Julian Lage (well, maybe Jazz), Anais Mitchell (stunning solo act as well as Broadway musical genius), etc., and recommend these people frequently. That said, when alone I listen to jazz pretty much exclusively, with other stuff sprinkled in. When I heard a "local boy" I’ve worked with for years was touring with Bonnie Raitt (Duke Levine) I had to hear her new album...and it’s great, although Duke ain’t on it. Tres Hombres and Little Feat get some gear pile exposure here and there as hey, they’re just worth it.