For New Jersey-based saxophonist Oliver Lake, a few things are sure after he gets up in the morning: he'll write some new music and perform it with some of the world's most forward-thinking jazz figures, and he'll be in Pittsburgh in the middle of September.

"It's gotten to be quite comfortable, and I look forward to it every year," the veteran of New York's bustling '70s loft-jazz scene and the charter member of the seminal St. Louis-based Black Artists Group (1968-72) says. "I didn't know it was going to turn out this good when I did the first year. Now, it's a great showcase to be here each year with one of the many collaborations that I have."

Predictable, sure, but a bonus for the North Side -- this year marks the fifth that Lake hosts the Jazz/Poetry Concert, organized by Henry Reese and City of Asylum, which houses writers in exile from oppressive regimes. Last year, he brought a quintet with his sons Gene and Jahi, but the biggest treat came in 2006 when 700 people packed the alley behind the Mattress Factory to witness the second area appearance of Lake's legendary World Saxophone Quartet.

World Sax's first gig here was at the Three Rivers Arts Festival in 1991, and it's been almost as long (1995 via the Mellon Jazz Fest, to be exact) since Lake brought his other monumental group: the inimitable free-jazzers Trio 3, featuring bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille.

"We've been together for about 21 years," beams Lake, recalling the reason for the trio's genesis. "Prior to that, the three of us used to work in each other's bands. We kept seeing that the three of us would come together so often, so to avoid confusion, we formed a co-op group between us."

What's changed since those halcyon days? "Each of us continues to add compositions to our performance, so hopefully we're getting better as we're getting older," Lake comments. "In the past couple of years, we've been doing more collaborations. We're going to Europe to tour with [Swiss avant-jazz pianist] Irene Schweizer, and we did a recording with her."

The trio's partnership with keyboardists technically dates back to before the group was even named -- they all play on 1986's "Synthesis," which includes pianist Marilyn Crispell and lists Workman as bandleader. But in this month's issue of Signal To Noise magazine, Alan Waters reviews the 2008 Trio 3/Schweizer CD, "Berne Concert," dubbing the trio "one of the most rigorous and exploratory improvising groups" and according them "total mastery over the history of jazz [while] their ears are turned towards an infinity of future sounds."

Such praise is hard to beat, but their latest collaborator, well-known Detroit-based pianist Geri Allen (who has a Masters in ethnomusicology from Pitt) is more familiar for her straight-ahead post-bop projects as a leader. She has made occasional free-form forays: her 1984 debut "The Printmakers" featured Cyrille, and she appeared on Ornette Coleman's "Sound Museum" in 1996. She frequently plays colleges and jazz festivals in the States.

"Each of us has been working with her over the past 25 to 30 years, so we thought of adding her as a guest," explains Lake. "[Last month] we played at Birdland, which went fantastically. The club owners were happy and the concerts were very well attended each night. When we finished that gig, [the owner] said, 'We will see you again next year.' It's good that we're performing in Pittsburgh now, because we're still close to the music."

The Birdland stint marked the release of the Trio 3/Allen disc "At This Time," and Chris May of review site All About Jazz gave their efforts high marks, comparing the opener "Swamini" to the impressionistic, Eastern sonorities associated with Alice Coltrane and noting their coverage of Eric Dolphy's "Gazzeloni," as well as a quick reference to bop chestnut "Night in Tunisia" in the middle of the track "Lake's Jump."

Although Allen certainly gives respect to the avant-garde (she recently wrote a piece that paid tribute to Cecil Taylor, as well as her heroes McCoy Tyner and Herbie Hancock), she rarely has a chance to stretch out the way she does with Trio 3.

"She's a musician's musician," says Lake, "and can go in any direction she wants. We explore quite a bit more in our setting than she does with her other ensembles. She definitely enjoys the opportunity to do that, and it lends a good spice to the performance. She's always expressed her gratitude and excitement about playing with us, and we've done the same. It's a two-way street."

Lake himself hasn't been afraid to branch out into other disciplines, which is how he wound up getting involved with City of Asylum. "Henry was originally looking to reach James Blood Ulmer to do these shows. But he contacted my former agent, Marty Khan, who used to be World Sax's agent for over 20 years. Marty suggested I would be more suitable for that kind of performance because I write poetry, work with poets, and also have my own theater pieces."

In 2006, Lake shared the City of Asylum stage with Wole Soyinka, the first black African to received the Nobel Prize in literature, but his interest in poetry stems back to the early stirrings of the Black Artists Group.

"In St. Louis, there were poets that I used to accompany, especially one named Ajule Rutlin. He influenced me in how I deliver poetry. Then, when I moved to New York City I hooked up with Ntozake Shange ('For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf') and we used to do performances on the Lower East Side before her play went to Broadway. It piqued my interest to start writing poetry myself, so I wrote my first book 'Life Dance,' which is no longer in print. That was 20 years ago. This year is finally the year that will see my second book in print."

Although Lake is published, the other band members have the academic credentials. "Everyone in the group works at a university except for me -- Reggie is one of the heads of jazz at the New School, Andrew teaches there as well, and Geri is at the University of Michigan. Sometimes I do residencies and I have projects with students, but I'm not as connected to academia as they are."

Which begs the question -- why not do a long-term residency in Pittsburgh? "Well, Henry has been the conduit for most of my activities here, and he's talked about it, but it's never been pursued to my knowledge."

One pursuit which Lake remains relentless about is retaining control of his own creative destiny. He recorded for Gramavision for a while in the '80s and '90s, Intakt has Trio 3 locked up, and the Justin Time label is still doing World Sax CDs, but all of his other releases are self-pressed on his own Passin' Thru imprint, which includes a new album by his Organ Trio (with Jared Gold and Johnathan Blake) as well as such live recordings as a Denmark concert with John Tchicai and a New York date at Roulette with Pheeroan akLaff.

"I've only been putting out about one CD per year," he says. "Business has been really slow for small indie labels like mine. My company is pretty much a one-man show, but it's worth the effort to have full ownership of what I do."

The trend towards downloading means that some of Lake's products are available online. "Even major record companies are having trouble selling physical CDs," he explains. "I prefer that everybody gets the entire album, because the artists are making a statement with the whole. The older jazz audience still wants the CDs, but the younger people prefer downloading individual songs. I've spoken to the younger demographic of the audience -- most say they haven't bought a brand new CD in years. If they buy a CD, it's probably a used one. So doing the label is difficult, but I'm going to continue with it."

When: 7:30 p.m. Sat.

Where: Sampsonia Way, Mexican War Streets, North Side. (In case of rain, New Hazlett Theater).

Details: www.cityofasylumpittsburgh.org.

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