Highlights on the schedule include a four-night stand at the Founders Hall Jazz Club in Southern California and three days at the 2003 Brubeck Festival in Northern California.

Following the festival, Brubeck will head to the Austria and the U.K. in May before hitting the States for another round in June. A spot on the annual Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island in August looks to wrap things up for now.

With a catalog that stretches six decades, Brubeck is hardly pushed to present new tunes to beef up his performances. Nevertheless, he still records regularly – both as a solo artist, with his sons, and as part of a trio. More current releases include Jazz At The College Of The Pacific, Vol. 2, The Crossing, One Alone and various live albums.

Says Brubeck of his work, “Essentially, I’m a composer who plays the piano or I’m a pianist who is a composer. My piano playing is shaped by the material and ideas I’m trying to express. I continue to play jazz because that’s what I love most to do.”