CHICAGO — The young man with a horn came here in 1961 and he blew that cornet with such force and style, such brilliance and versatility, that he has become a living landmark, emphasis on “living.”

He has played with thousands of musicians, on thousands of stages, and in thousands of recording and commercial sessions. He has made many friends. The great singer Peggy Lee once said of him, “I like him best when he plays in pastels, but every note is beautiful … is loving. Bobby loves life as he loves music … and I love Bobby Lewis.”

That young man is older now, much older. He turns 90 on Jan. 23, but as you know if you ever saw him in a nightclub or plan to see him Sunday at Winter’s Jazz Club, Bobby Lewis is defying the calendar.

“I feel great, warm and cool,” he told me shortly before the Bears defeated the Packers on Sunday, a game he watched in his Wilmette home. “I have a little tendonitis I guess, but I am so glad to be able to keep playing at a high level. I don’t take any meds. I wake up every day, happy and ready to play.”

Lewis is not the first nonagenarian I have known. One was Studs Terkel, with whom I spent a lot of time during his 96 years, and who once said, “Think of what’s stored in a … 90-year-old mind. Just marvel at it. You’ve got to get out this information, this knowledge, because you’ve got something to pass on. There’ll be nobody like you ever again. Make the most of every molecule you’ve got as long as you’ve got a second to go.”

That would serve nicely as a philosophy for Lewis, who has always been the most generous performer, able to communicate his joy. In talking to him about his long career, it’s easy to feel that nothing can (or will) diminish that happiness.

“I have been on this planet for almost 90 years and for 80 of them I have been playing the trumpet,” he says, as well as the flugelhorn.

A bit longer, actually, since he tells me he started playing when he was “9 and a half years old,” when he started to mimic some of Harry James’ sounds pouring from 78s into his family’s home in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

His father, Bart, played trombone and piano and his uncle Merill taught music in schools. So music came to Bobby irresistibly, and he was playing in bands while in high school, and while getting a music education degree at the University of Wisconsin and serving two years in the Army in Germany.

Soon he was here and here he has happily stayed, traveling the world every so often, playing with what amounts to a gallery of jazz greats, in bands and with such performers as Jack Teagarden, Benny Carter, Marian McPartland, Henry Mancini, Curtis Mayfield, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Judy Garland, Mel Tormé and Sammy Davis Jr. There are more.

He was ever busy too in studios for commercial work and became a composer, arranger, singer and sometimes teacher. He has also been able to handle the vagaries and bumps (earthquakes, more like it) that have shaken and transformed the jazz, nightclub and recording worlds.

It is never a good idea to wallow in the past, filled with closed clubs and vanished pals, so we didn’t, much. We talked about the major back surgery that required months of recovery and intensive physical therapy a decade ago. We talked about only a couple of bygone clubs, more about his two grandchildren (both in college, one pursuing a degree in music and both musically inclined) and about the golf we used to play with our mutual pal Tim Weigel, the late sportscaster and passionate music fan.

“I miss Timmy, but I think he’d be impressed that I can still hit it, not as far but …” he said, breaking out in a laugh. “But sometimes I can’t remember where I hit it.”

The relationship most of us have with musicians, especially those of the jazz world, is a particularly close one, in large part because it takes place in the dark. As the great, late pianist/singer Buddy Charles once told me, “There is something primitive about being close to live music. What makes it work is that people are inherently eager for intimacy.”

Over the decades, there has been a mountain of praise heaped on Lewis. Instead of offering a lengthy list of compliments from fans and critics, I asked one of his younger collaborators, guitarist Andy Brown, who just turned 50, to offer his take.

This is some of what he told me: “I’ve known and worked with Bobby for over 20 years. I first played with him not long after I moved to Chicago and joined trombonist Russ Phillips’ Windy City All-Stars and started working with them weekly at Andy’s Jazz Club. Bobby was the trumpet player with the group, which specialized in Chicago-style traditional jazz. Bobby’s eclectic musical tastes and uncanny melodic gifts were immediately apparent to me, and we really hit it off. Besides being a master of early jazz styles, he has vast knowledge of classical music, Brazilian feels and various modern jazz approaches. He has always been unflaggingly encouraging to me, and seemed to especially enjoy hearing me “stretch out” during a weeklong run with his quintet at the Jazz Showcase during those early years working together. I’ve been honored to be featured on several of his recordings, and am always inspired by his beautiful sound, developed ideas and dedication to the free-wheeling jazz spirit he so embodies. Over the years, we’ve worked together with CSO principal clarinetist Larry Combs, Petra van Nuis (Brown’s wife), various Russ Phillips groups, and Bobby’s own projects. In all of these musical scenarios, his No. 1 goal has been to add beauty to the world through the sounds of his trumpet. His genuine warmth and positive spirit have never wavered in all the various encounters we’ve had, and he’s really the person I want to be when I grow up.”

In his life, Lewis has made 14 albums, some of the recent ones bearing titles that speak to his longevity, “…Play On” and “No Expiration Date.”

But wait, there’s more. “I’m currently working on my 15th,” he said. “Just one more session and then it’s into post production. I’m shooting for a release in the spring.”

Well, of course he is.

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Bobby Lewis Quintet plays 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 18 at Winter’s Jazz Club, 465 N. McClurg Court; tickets $28.75-$33.75 at www.wintersjazzclub.com.

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