Jazz guitar aficionados: Come one, come all

Most of the axemen taking the stage for the

Chris' Jazz Cafe Guitar Festival

over the next eight days don't have to make much of a commute.

The club is a virtual second home for local stalwart Jimmy Bruno, who kicks things off Saturday. Frank DiBussolo and octogenarian Bucky Pizzarelli can carpool down from the Allentown area to continue their ongoing partnership this Sunday. And everyone else on the bill - Ryan Neitznick, Dave Manley, Craig Ebner and Mike Kennedy, and Steve Giordano - could take public transportation if the need arose.

But Kurt Rosenwinkel, whose quintet takes a two-night stint next Friday and Saturday, will have to make slightly more involved travel arrangements. He'll be arriving from Germany.

That's not to say that Rosenwinkel's name on the marquee makes this any less a Philly-centric festival. The guitarist was born and raised in the city, so gigs here mean reunions with family and friends.

"When I'm playing in Philly," Rosenwinkel said via e-mail, "I know that there are people in the audience who have seen and been a part of my musical growth since I was a kid. That makes it special to come back and play, because the context is huge, over my whole lifetime. And to come and play my best is also a way of saying thanks, somehow."

Rosenwinkel moved to Germany with his wife and two children to head the guitar department at the Jazz Institute of Berlin.

In the wider music world, the innovative guitarist is probably more associated with Boston, where he studied at Berklee College of Music and co-founded the influential quintet Human Feel, whose members are among the most groundbreaking artists in jazz today.

Or, maybe there's a stronger link to New York, where he earned fame and recently returned to record his new live CD, "The Remedy," at the legendary Village Vanguard. But he rattles off a list of familiar Philadelphia names when recalling his formative years, some of whom will be part of this festival.

"I used to go hear Jimmy Bruno when my good friend David Brodie [now bassist for the world/jazz fusion band M'oudswing] started playing with him at a restaurant in town," Rosenwinkel recalled. "I remember my brother Eric and I used to go to T&T Monroe's to see Bootsie Barnes. I was about 16, but they would always serve me a Budweiser anyway. That place was so cool, and we had the best times there listening to jazz. Then I would always hit the jam sessions at the Blue Note and sometimes at Slim Cooper's."

Since leaving Philly, Rosenwinkel has moved to the forefront of modern guitar slingers. His distinctive sound is fleet and fluid - moving like mercury and made more ethereal by the frequent accompaniment of his parallel vocals - but always grounded by momentum and intelligence.

He'll be accompanied by his regular quintet, the fiercely simpatico unit of saxophonist Mark Turner, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Ben Street and drummer Obed Calvaire.

The group's new CD joins a distinguished lineage of live recordings emanating from the Vanguard, where the band returns for a weeklong stint just before the Philly engagement. From legends like John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and Bill Evans to Rosenwinkel's contemporaries Brad Mehldau and Chris Potter, the club has been a favorite for decades.

"The Vanguard has been our New York home for several years," Rosenwinkel said, "so it was natural to want to do it there. The meaning in being a part of that history is something very deeply felt and respected."

Recorded in January 2006, the two-disc set will be released through the online venture ArtistShare. It came about when Rosenwinkel realized the quintet had reached a particular high point in its performances.

"The band hit a sweet spot," he said, "and the live shows were really connecting. I wanted to capture what it is that we actually do, the spirit we're putting out there. I think we achieved that; the record is a good representation of where I'm at, although I've grown since and turned another page in my writing."

That growth will undoubtedly be on display in next weekend's shows, sure to be a highlight of the festival, given the high caliber of Rosenwinkel's past performances. But guitar aficionados of all stripes will find something to fit their tastes.

Old-school fans have the classic stylings of Pizzarelli and DiBussolo, or Bruno's smoking, finely nuanced, straight-ahead lines. Kennedy and Ebner will unite to generate some hard-bopping swing.

Modernists can revel in the Neitznick's young sextet or Giordano's long-running Spacetet. And those not content to merely sit back and watch can test their mettle when Dave Manley leads a jam session on Tuesday. *

E-mail Shaun Brady at bradys@phillynews.com.

Chris' Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom St., tomorrow through March 8, $8-$20, 215-568-3131, www.chrisjazzcafe.com.