Brubeckin’ the Weekend Away

You’ve got to hand it to Dave Brubeck. He’s 87 years old, and put bluntly, can’t even walk up two steps without a helping hand. But when you sit him down in front of a keyboard, the guy’s got fingers fleet as the wind and an imagination to match. And this weekend, you can have your fill of him down at the Kennedy Center.

Brubeck’s hitting the stage on Sunday night for a duet concert with fellow piano icon Ramsey Lewis, whose 1965 instrumental version of “The In Crowd” was one of the last bona-fide hits in jazz (and was recorded, by the way, at Bohemian Caverns). Sunday afternoon, he won’t be playing, but telling stories: he’ll sit down with Billy Taylor and other special guests for a conversation panel called “The Real Ambassadors,” commemorating Brubeck’s State Department-sponsored world tour 50 years ago. What more do you need?