When you think "Brazilian jazz," you think "Pittsburgh," right?

Well, no, of course you don't.

Nevertheless, a case could, and will, be made for that connection Friday night at Heinz Hall, when Brazilian star Ivan Lins headlines "An Evening of Pittsburgh-Inspired Brazilian Jazz." A sprawling cast will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild -- first, with a reception/gala honoring local jazz musicians, and then, at 8 p.m., with the concert.

In a country where they grow great songwriters as if they were coconuts (Milton Nascimento, Gilberto Gil and Antonio Carlos Jobim, to name just a few), Lins has managed to land on top. From 1970, when Elis Regina sang his first hit, "Madalena," to 1989's English-language "Love Dance," to his Latin Grammy in 2005 for the CD "Cantando Historias," Lins has enjoyed popular success in Brazil and the adulation of a sizable niche of jazz-oriented listeners in the rest of the world.

"Ivan is one of those one-in-a-generation or maybe multiple-generation musicians," says Marty Ashby, executive producer of MCG Jazz and a guitarist who will perform at the event. "Jobim, in my view, was his predecessor, and Ivan is the next Jobim, creating tunes that will be played for generations to come, that have such a strong sense of melody. The melody catches you first, and then when you go and look at it as a musician, you say, 'Oh my God, what unbelievable harmony that goes with this melody!' "

As for the Pittsburgh link, Ashby explains it this way. Rio-born Lins has always cited Pittsburgh's Stephen Foster as his earliest musical influence -- when his family moved to Boston for three years in the late 1940s, his parents calmed little Ivan by playing Foster songs on the piano. Friday, Lins will perform "Fosterville," his version of three Foster tunes, with arrangements by the venerable Don Sebesky.

Henry Mancini, from West Aliquippa, also seeped into Lins' style. At the concert, Lins will perform his own tune "Henrysville" as well as Mancini's "Dreamsville" in another Sebesky arrangement.

Lins has visited Pittsburgh frequently. He has performed five weekend concert series at the Guild, one of which resulted in the 1999 CD "Live at MCG." Lins has also recorded in Pittsburgh with singers and musicians ranging from Nancy Wilson to the Brazilian ex-pat Kenia.

"When Ivan first came to Pittsburgh, now more than 10 years ago, he fell in love with the Guild," Ashby remembers. "He said from the stage, 'I feel the spirit of Jobim here.'

"And he wrote the tune 'Dois Corregos' in my house, when he stayed there many years ago. I made the little Ivan Lins Suite, before I had kids, and got his keyboards all set up, and every morning he wrote music. And there are two or three tunes he wrote that week that are now on records. 'Dois Corregos' is on the Nancy Wilson record that they sang as a duet and won a Grammy."

Hear this interview and Ivan Lins' music.

The New York Voices -- a jazz vocal quartet and friends of Marty and his brother, trombonist/percussionist Jay Ashby, since their days at Ithaca College -- will perform in place of Nancy Wilson, who is recuperating from a collapsed lung.

"The Voices and Ivan have been performing all over the world together. In fact, they leave Pittsburgh and go to New York and play at the Blue Note for about a week, and then they go to Brazil for about 10 days on a tour. They weren't originally on the bill, but we tracked them down in Russia, believe it or not, and we were able to move some things around for them, and I'm thrilled they'll be able to come."

Also on the bill is Sean Jones, who will play Lins' "Love Dance" and Mancini's "Days of Wine and Roses."

"Sean Jones is one of the finest young trumpet players in the world," Ashby says. "Most people know him because he's lead trumpet player with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with, of course, Wynton Marsalis. He's got three or four records under his own name. He's taught for the past two or three years at Duquesne University in their jazz program. He played on our Nancy Wilson records. "

And the musicians just keep on stepping up to the mic.

The Children's Festival Chorus will sing a medley of Lins tunes, Joe Negri will play "Won't You Be My Neighbor" (one of three arrangements by saxophonist/Duquesne University educator Mike Tomaro), the PSO will play "Bachianas Brasilieras No. 8" by Villa-Lobos, and that's still not everything.

Finally, don't forget the gala reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m., which will honor nine veteran Pittsburgh jazz musicians -- trumpeter Chuck Austin, guitarist Negri, drummer Cecil Brooks II, trombonists Dr. Nelson E. Harrison and Harold Betters, Hammond B3 organist Gene Ludwig, pianist/educator Dr. James T. Johnson Jr., drummer Roger Humphries, and trumpeter/arranger Dr. John Wilson.

"We had these little trading cards made up for all the gala attendees that have their photo on the front and this little bio of all the highlights of their career on the back, like a trading card," Ashby says.

"My goal is to have young people be exposed to these legends, because a lot of people don't know who Harold Betters is or Gene Ludwig. These are the people who have stayed in Pittsburgh, who could have been anywhere in the world, and for the most part they elected to stay here and hone their craft, and pass the tradition and the language of this music on to future generations."

Ashby is particularly pleased to be collaborating with the Symphony at Heinz Hall.

"To have a Top 10 orchestra in our market is unbelievable, and we've got 'Top 10' jazz musicians that live here every day as well. And to put them together in the same environment and to bring on Ivan Lins, who was so inspired by Henry Mancini and Stephen Foster's music. ... We're gonna make that connection onstage."