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Perhaps it is because it does it so well.

Planners at the North Side post-secondary school are celebrating the site's 20th anniversary as a jazz concert venue, but the organization also spreads its activities so much it's hard not to run into them.

Concerts at the Guild begin Sept. 28 with four days featuring pianist Billy Taylor, and will stream through the year with guests that range from Ellis Marsalis in December to the Bad Plus and sax star Joe Lovano in March 2007.

But the organization's work hardly stops there. It will team up with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust to present singer Nancy Wilson and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra in March at the Benedum Center, Downtown.

And it has a series of concerts at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown, that begins this evening with singer Clairdee and guitarist Henry Johnson.

The Guild and Pittsburgh Ciitiparks were main sponsors of a Labor Day Jazz Festival at Schenley Park in Oakland. Marty Ashby, executive producer of MCG Jazz, says he hopes to make that event yearly, perhaps even multi-day. So, watch out.

While the Guild is quite active, jazz does show up in other ways as well.

Besides the concert with Nancy Wilson, the Cultural Trust is bringing in guitarist John Scofield Sept. 28 to offer his look at the works of Ray Charles. He will be at the Byham Theater, Downtown, as will Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra on Feb. 14.

The Trust also has a series of concerts every Tuesday evening at the Cabaret Theater and the Backstage bar at its Theater Square site, Downtown.

Those concerts begin in the theater at 5 p.m. and then shift to the bar for a wrap-up performance by another performer or band at 8 p.m. It is a steady look at some of Pittsburgh's current jazz stars, such as bassist Dwyane Dolphin or the up-and-coming band Yin Yang.

One of the biggest jazz events of any year is the University of Pittsburgh's Jazz Seminar and Concert. The event, which begins Oct. 31, is held at various sites on the Oakland campus and climaxes with the concert at the nearby Carnegie Music Hall, this year on Nov. 4. Put together by sax ace Nathan Davis, the event always features a lineup of players ranging from star trumpeter Jon Faddis to sax legend James Moody.

Jazz at clubs, always the true heartbeat of the music, has taken a nosedive with the closing of such sites at the Crawford Grill on the Square on the South Side.

Dowe's on 9th, Downtown, at one time was bringing in a steady lineup of national stars, but owner Al Dowe has backed away from that to a more local schedule.

That site is elegant for that, but there also are some more casual establishments with similar offerings: C.J.'s in the Strip District, Martini's in West Jefferson Hills, the Wooden Nickel in Monroeville, and the Walnut Grill in Shadyside.

Gullifty's in Squirrel Hill also has become fairly active and its owner, David Papale, hints he may do more. In addition, parties interested in what was once the busy James Street Restaurant on the North Side hint a return to jazz programming.

We can just watch and wait.

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