Star Time

When Houstonian Mark Dini opens for Larry Carlton on Tuesday night, the local-boy jazz guitarist is likely to feel a few butterflies. Headliner Carlton, after all, is revered in many jazz circles. He’s the cat with the dark, biting tone who played with the Crusaders and was a Los Angeles studio ace for years. He also helped define the sound of several Steely Dan albums, and his distinctive rock-influenced style has infected the playing of a generation of guitarists. So, when Dini plays in front of Carlton, he’ll be performing in front of one of the jazz elite.

“If you would have told me back when I saw Larry Carlton play with Lee Ritenour,” Dini says, “or saw him open up for Miles Davis, that one day I would be opening for him, I would have said, ‘In your dreams.’ “

For Dini, one of Houston’s most versatile guitarists, it won’t be the first time he’ll be playing before a jazz legend. In the early ’90s, while doing gigs with keyboardist Phil Blackmon, Dini played a date behind famed studio guitarist Eric Gale, who had come in for a special guest appearance. “I didn’t expect to play on the gig at all,” Dini says. “I told Phil, ‘I’ll come see you guys play.’ He said, ‘No I want you on the gig, too.’

“We were rehearsing at my house and, here I am, I’ve got CDs and records with Eric Gale on them and the guy shows up with a guitar case at my front door to come to rehearsal…. I was almost embarrassed to pick up my guitar,” Dini continues. “It’s a real fun experience to have a chance to work with the guy and get some pointers from him. Gale was a great player. He had a great blues feel. He reminded me of B.B. King a little bit, but he had a strong ability to play over jazz changes.”

A fixture on the Houston jazz scene for nearly a decade, Dini first picked up the guitar when he was eight years old. He did the typical jamming with high school bands but didn’t get serious about the instrument until college. By the late ’80s Dini was playing around Houston and Dallas, doing R&B and jazz fusion dates. After some success in Texas, Dini moved to Los Angeles in ’89. However, he quickly discovered there was much competition out West.

“I wasn’t really gigging, because the kind of music I wanted to play I felt was at a much higher level than what I had been doing,” Dini says. “In the space of two months I saw Pat Metheny twice, Mike Stern and Michael Brecker. After viewing that kind of level of playing, I realized that even though I had played around here in Texas, there was a whole new level of musicianship, and I didn’t even feel worthy of doing any kind of gig. I felt like it was time to study, and really. So I spent about two years, after I had gigged a lot in Houston and Dallas, just doing nothing but studying.”

After studying with Mark Shapiro (a.k.a. Evan Marks of Fatburger fame) and other musicians on the L.A. jazz scene, Dini returned to his hometown to try to make it in one of the most enigmatic jazz scenes in the country. Though Houston has a tremendous reputation as a breeding ground for top-flight jazz artists, it’s a hard place to get a gig. When Scott Gertner’s Sky Bar opened up last month, it doubled the number of full-time jazz clubs in Houston — the other being Sambuca Jazz Cafe. Ovations and Cezanne, the city’s two other full-time jazz clubs, are scaling back performances this summer. Which is too bad.

“I remember two or three years ago we were having to create our own gigs at places that didn’t necessarily have live music,” Dini continues. “We were playing at the River Cafe, which wasn’t doing live music anymore. We talked them into letting us play there and go into business for ourselves and do the door, and it worked out fine. The place where we regularly play now, Grappino di Nino, didn’t have music at all, but they had a patio and a restaurant and a bar. I finally got an opportunity to convince them to do some live music out there, and that’s turned out to be a great deal, not only for us, but also a lot of other musicians who are playing there on a regular basis. If you’re looking to go hear that jazz live, it’s out there.”

After several years of gutting it out and scrapping for gigs, Dini is gaining a strong local following. He credits his willingness to adapt to his surroundings. A flexible guitarist, Dini can play raucous fusion or subdued straight-ahead jazz, depending on what’s needed. Proof of Dini’s flexibility can be found on his two self-produced CDs, Green Light and Back for Seconds (both available at local record stores), in which Dini shows considerable chops and the ability to traverse several genres of jazz. He’s a creative improviser with a contemporary vibe who can nail the Wes Montgomery school with authority.

Dini’s playing, promoting and ability to keep crowds enthusiastic throughout his sets have made him a hot commodity in Houston. Now the hot commodity gets to strut his stuff with Larry Carlton, who’ll probably be watching offstage. It may be just the break Dini’s looking for.

“It is slightly intimidating because I have such a high level of respect for him as a player in a variety of ways,” Dini says. “A lot of the values that are important to me as a guitar player, I think he excels at so well. He’s such a lyrical guitar player, and he’s so good at so many things, but I don’t think it will be competitive. I remember when he played with Lee Ritenour and some guy in the crowd yelled, ‘Show us what you got.’ Larry said, ‘It’s not really about that, it’s about expression, but if you want to come down here and trade some licks with us, you’re welcome to.’ “

If the gods are smiling just right on Tuesday, the guy trading licks on stage with Larry Carlton might be Mark Dini.

Mark Dini opens for Larry Carlton on Tuesday, June 8, at Sambuca Jazz Cafe, 909 Texas. Call (713)224-5299 for ticket information.