Getting Cozy With Contemporary : Jazz: Dana Point festival has a Southern California flavor, spiced with an intimate setting. It opens with some ‘beach jazz.’

You could spend this weekend at the Playboy Jazz Festival, crammed into the Hollywood Bowl along with 17,000 other jazz fans. You could, that is, if you can get tickets (at press time, a few scattered seats remained for Sunday’s show).

There, you could lug your two-ton cooler up the steep hillside to squeeze in hip-to-hip on the hardwood bleachers next to someone sputtering with beer every time a band strikes up the funk.

From your vantage point high above the stage you can have fun guessing which act is which--”Hey, that’s David Sanborn down there! No, wait! I think it’s Wynton Marsalis!”--while the infamous Bowl sound is either flat and distant in the cheap seats or loud and harsh in the boxes.

Or you could try something a little more civilized.

Sure, the three-day Dana Point Jazz Festival, going on this weekend at the Renaissance at the Dana Point Cafe, doesn’t have the kind of big-name roster that graces Playboy’s two-day lineup.

But it does have a dandy selection of Southern California-based artists, some of them stars on the national and even international level. And they are presented in an intimate and comfortable setting.

Those at Playboy won’t be able to go up to Tito Puente after his performance to talk about the time in the ‘50s they saw the timbale master at New York’s Cafe Mambo, but those so inclined probably could approach Saturday’s Dana Point headliner, Max Bennett, after his set to reminisce about his days with Peggy Lee. The Dana Point festival has always been that kind of cozy gathering, in which musicians and audience can interrelate. And that’s its greatest attraction.

This year’s edition, the fifth, signals a change in direction.

First, the Old Dana Point Cafe has been remodeled and, since May, under new management. All of the cafe’s attractions remain--wine, beer, specialty coffees and food--but in new, spiffier surroundings,

And although previous editions of the festival have presented a wide variety of styles, from Dixieland to fusion, this year’s fest will look to the contemporary side of the ledger, with both familiar favorites and some new faces. Music starts tonight at 8 and continues from noon to midnight Saturday and Sunday, with afternoon sets on the patio and evening sets indoors.

“I wanted to concentrate on the more dynamic side of jazz,” said Candy Strocker, a music broker who booked the talent for the Dana Point fest. “We looked for acts that were more melodic and accessible and reflected the music heard at the other Renaissance locations.” (The Renaissance also has sites in Tustin, Brea and Laguna).

Tonight’s opener is Long Beach-based guitarist Bruce Baldwin and his band. Baldwin calls his music “beach jazz” (his self-produced album goes by the same name) and he says it’s a blend of influences leaning heavily on Brazilian rhythms.

“About 90% of what we do is original music,” he said. “I grew up in Long Beach next to the water listening to the Beach Boys. I especially admired Brian Wilson, of course.”

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Baldwin studied classical guitar at Cal State Long Beach but says he also was influenced by such rock guitarists as Duane Allman, Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Winter. It was Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell, the composer of “Sad Samba,” who left the biggest mark.

“He changed my total outlook toward guitar playing. I’m also influenced by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luiz Bonfa and Bola Sete.”

Baldwin says he kept stirring the pot of influences until his music “became its own thing.” His group features Brazilian bassist Antonio C. Sant’Anna and percussionist Victor Cardenas.

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Though Baldwin may be a new face to some, Saturday’s headliner, San Clemente resident Max Bennett, is the well-known founding member of the L.A. Express (with saxophonist Tom Scott) and the long-time musical director for Peggy Lee. Others he has supported with his bass playing over a distinguished career include Joni Mitchell, Barbra Streisand, Frank Zappa and Frank Sinatra.

Bennett will front his Maxx Band, including saxophonist Jeff Jorgenson, guitarist Brian Price and drummer Dave Hooper, in tunes from his album “Great Expectations,” a Japanese release that includes guest appearances by Crusaders keyboardist Joe Sample and saxophonist Scott. The album is set for release in Europe late this year.

“I’m on the ultimate ego trip,” Bennett said. “I write the tunes and run the band. But I don’t consider this a lollipop-jazz band by any means. We don’t follow the formula. It’s the real essence of what a jazz band should have and that’s great soloists. I came up playing in rhythm sections, and that’s my first love. That and listening to great solos from the guys in my group.”

Greg Vail, who plays Sunday afternoon on the Renaissance patio, is familiar to many as the saxophonist in Kilauea. He performed earlier this year as a guest at both the KSBR Jazz Bash and the Southern California Jazz Festival. Vail, who is under contract to Brainchild Records to do a solo album sometime this year or early next, said his duo, with keyboardist Randy Gonzales, will cover the gambit:

“Randy knows a zillion tunes, so we’ll do some originals from Tony Guerrero as well as some Grover Washington Jr., Kenny G, David Sanborn and standards like ‘Misty’ and ‘My Funny Valentine.’ We’ll also cover some stuff from female singers like Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and some off-the-wall stuff.”

* The fifth annual Dana Point Jazz Festival will be held today through Sunday at the Renaissance At the Old Dana Point Cafe, 24701 Del Prado, Dana Point. No cover. (714) 661-6003.