‘Headlines’ Brings Steve Khan Full Circle

“Space Age Wes Montgomery.”

That’s what a music writer called guitarist Steve Khan about a decade ago, and while he initially disagreed with that opinion, today he’s comfortable about being linked somewhat stylistically to the great melodic guitarist.

“I’ve taken a circuitous route to being sort of a basic jazz guitar player with a few contemporary touches,” said Khan, 45, who plays with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Ben Perowsky tonight through Sunday at Maxwell’s in Huntington Beach, and Monday at Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood.

Khan, an L.A. native and son of the late songwriter Sammy Cahn, early on idolized Montgomery’s lush sounds. “But I realized I’d never be the next Wes Montgomery,” he said.

Khan instead established himself with a gritty, wiry tone and an energetic approach that blended rock and jazz. For years, that slant kept him interested and in vogue--he played with the Breckers Brothers band and made several solid-selling albums for Columbia Records, which many fans may remember as much for their colorful covers by French artist Jean-Michel Folon as for their invigorating music.

Then in 1980, wham-bam, Khan shifted gears. “I just bottomed out. I got very depressed at how I was playing,” said Khan, who put his Telecaster guitar, one of the rock world’s favorite models, in the closet, and hasn’t touched it since.

Khan began going back to the mainstream jazz stance that had first attracted him as a teen-ager. “I started playing music by Lee Morgan, Thelonious Monk, Wayne Shorter,” the guitarist said.

He still does. Khan’s latest album, “Headline,” features selections by the latter two, as well as a gorgeous song by his father and Paul Weston, “Autumn in Rome.” His live sets spotlight more of the same. “So you could say I’ve come full circle,” Khan said. “It’s almost like I became a modern jazz guitar player by accident.”

Rim Shots: Albert Collins, the renowned blues guitarist, joins Branford Marsalis and company, including singer Linda Hopkins, for a blues bash Saturday at the Wiltern Theatre.

“Albert is a genuine blues cat,” said “Tonight Show” bandleader Marsalis. “He grew up in the era when the blues was less influenced by rock ‘n’ roll, so there’s a certain earthiness to his playing. His songs are great and we get a real groove going when we play them. . . .”

The Jazz Caravan, a septet sponsored by the Los Angeles Jazz Society that features trumpeter Al Aarons and pianist Gildo Mahones, today starts its fifth year of taking jazz to Los Angeles-area elementary and secondary schools. The program, which is emceed by KLON-FM announcer Chuck Niles, will be presented at such schools as Langdon Avenue School in Sepulveda, the Calabash Street School in Woodland Hills and Hobart Elementary in Los Angeles. Information: (213) 469-6800.

Jazz films from the archives of Mark Cantor highlight the February meeting of the Duke Ellington Society, being held Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the Community Service room of the Santa Monica Place Mall, located at the corner of 4th Street and Broadway in Santa Monica. Information: (213) 290-1291.