For Bill Frisell, a guitar isn’t a guitar, it’s an orchestra. Though he plays mostly mass-produced Fender Telecasters (in his words, “When they invented that guitar, they got it right”), he can make them do anything. His tastes are restless and catholic, ranging from pop to blues, folk, country and western, soul, jazz, reggae, hard and soft rock, movie music, bluegrass. He has played with almost everybody who’s anybody; his discography, which you can download from his website, is five pages long.

I once stood in the back of a small indoor venue at the Monterey Jazz Festival, watching Frisell and drummer Matt Wilson noodle away — Frisell playing seemingly unrelated notes, Wilson off somewhere on his own — when a series of beeps, deedles, beats and pauses suddenly became “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” It took my breath away.

The Walker has had a long love affair with Frisell, first booking him back in 1986, before he had made a single record. In 1999, he premiered a septet there and laid the groundwork for “Blues Dream” (2001), one of his most lauded recordings.

He returned in 2002 with the Intercontinental Quintet (a Brazilian-Greek-Malian group), in April 2005 (for the opening of the new Walker) with pedal steel virtuoso Greg Leisz, in September 2005 with his Unspeakable Orchestra and producer-turntablist Hal Willner, and in 2007 with his “Disfarmer Project,” a Walker commission inspired by outsider photographer Mike Disfarmer’s portraits of the residents of Heber Springs, Arkansas, in the 1940s.

This Saturday, Feb. 6, Frisell will premiere his latest musical expedition, “Baghdad/Seattle Suite,” in the cozy intimacy of the Walker’s McGuire Theater. Another Walker commission, it also features Iraqi oud master Rahim AlHaj and violist/erhu player Eyvind Kang. I’ve listened to tracks by all three but have no clue what will happen when they come together. Kang’s compositions can be challenging, ranging from melody to machine sounds, screams and explosive noise. At the very least, we can expect adventurous music; more likely, given the talent and the venue, important music.

Bill Frisell/Rahim AlHaj/Eyvind Kang: Baghdad/Seattle Suite. Saturday, Feb. 6, 7 and 9:30 p.m., McGuire Theater, Walker Art Center  ($29/$25 Walker members).

Other worthy jazz goings-on around the twin towns:

Saturday: Keys Please 9: The Chord Wars. Once a year for nine years, pianists/keyboardists Paul Cantrell, Todd Harper and Carei Thomas have come together for a “Keys Please” concert. Cantrell is classically trained, Harper and Thomas are avant-garde jazzers, yet all think broadly about music. This concert, like the previous years’ offerings, will be informed by their friendship and open-mindedness. Expect music by Chopin, Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk, along with original compositions, “weather permitting” works (based, literally, on the weather), and Thomas’ invention, “poemmetry.” With special guest Bob Ockendon on guitars. Learn more and view videos on Cantrell’s website. Saturday, Feb. 6, 8 p.m., Janet Wallace Concert Hall, Macalester College ($10; all students free with ID). Tickets at the door only.

Monday: Roberta Gambarini. The Torino-born singer has fairly been dubbed the successor to Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Carmen McRae. (I thought I was listening to Ella on the radio a few weeks ago and it turned out to be Gambarini.) She has a beautiful, elastic voice, a three-and-a-half octave range, an innate sense of swing, strong jazz skills (timing, technique, scatting, improvisation), and a warm and welcoming stage presence. Her latest CD, “So in Love,” was a recent Grammy nominee and we’ll probably hear selections from that. Here’s a 2009 interview with Gambarini. And here’s a promo video about “So in Love.” Monday, Feb. 8, 7 and 9:30 p.m., Dakota ($25/$20).

Tuesday and Wednesday: Bob James and Keiko Matsui. James and Matsui came to the Dakota around this time last year and I almost didn’t go. I didn’t know who Matsui was (turns out she’s a superstar in Japan) and had relegated James to the dusty shelf of smooth jazz. As it happened, that evening of piano four hands (two pianists, one keyboard) was one of the year’s revelations. Classical, jazzy, playful, virtuosic, improvisational, surprising — hear for yourself. Tuesday-Wednesday, Feb. 9-10, 7 and 9:30 p.m., Dakota ($45/$35).

Pamela Espeland keeps a Twin Cities live jazz calendar, blogs about jazz at Bebopified and tweets about jazz on Twitter.