The jazz concert series at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, which begins its 23rd year this weekend and features 27 shows by 16 artists in 2009-2010, is going through some changes. Specifically, two major ones.

For the first time, none of the artists will do the customary five shows over four days. Also, the Guild is collaborating with other cultural groups to bring artists to town, which it had never done before.

Marty Ashby, executive producer for the concert series, says those adjustments represented bowing to economic and musical reality.

Last year the Guild took a survey of its audiences, and "People told us they wanted more artists, more weekend nights," Ashby said. "On top of that, there are [virtually no artists that] could command five shows, and unfortunately, because of little jazz on radio [and the lack of] daily publications, there aren't the Nancy Wilsons and Tito Puentes" still performing. Pianist and Pittsburgh native Ahmad Jamal could, but "Ahmad doesn't like to play five nights anymore."

Financially, the concert series, which begins this weekend with vibraphonist Gary Burton's Next Generation Band, hasn't suffered in the process.

"We were 18 percent ahead of projections for ticket sales," Ashby says of last season. "We have more subscribers than we had in the last five years. It's not a cost savings on the overall cost of the season, [but] what it does allow us to do is to attract a wider variety of consumers" who might not normally be interested in jazz.

In fact, "Right now, there are four shows completely sold out. My expectation is that we can maintain. I'll be thrilled," Ashby says.

Further, Ashby says "The last round of surveys had the largest palette of artists I've ever seen. Now, I see names that I don't know."

Artists making first-time appearances at the Guild this season include trumpeter Herb Alpert and his vocalist-wife Lani Hall; guitarist Stanley Jordan, known for his tapping technique, who will share a bill with ukulele artist Jake Shimabukuro -- "Jake's got a huge Internet audience," Ashby points out; pianist Keiko Matsui; alto saxophonist David Sanborn; vocalist Gretchen Parlato; and guitarist/vocalist Lionel Loueke.

Also new for the Guild are partnerships with several different institutions to bring acts to town. Some of those shows will be at places other than the Guild.

However, Ashby, who believes that the Pittsburgh region can handle twice the number of national acts that make it here, doesn't see that as competition.

"At the end of the day, there's no question that if you collaborate with another institution to put on a program there's savings because you can share marketing costs," Ashby says. "There were some opportunities to do programming that I couldn't do on my own."

For example, the Guild is partnering with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to bring trumpeter Chris Botti back to Heinz Hall and with the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh for a performance of the Duke Ellington opera "Beggar's Holiday," both in December.

In April at the Byham Theater, with an assist from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, the Guild is doing Jamal with a big band. "Music no one's heard outside of New York," Ashby says.

"If it works," he says of the collaborations, "it would be something I would want to do every year."

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