"A philosopher once said that your life is the sum of the decisions you make along the way, so how can I have any regrets? …whatever's happened has always been my choice."

The new work will be premiered in Boston in May: "I'm pushing the envelope a bit: the work includes antiphonal brass, Ives-like offstage duelling ensembles and a funky march in 7/4 time. I'm walking the tightrope of being too exotic with it because I want it to be performed again. That doesn't mean that I'm patronising my audiences since, having sat through hundreds of pops concerts as a performer, I am very concerned that I don't underestimate their intelligence. I have, in the past, been accused of writing music that is too difficult for such audiences to listen to, and, because of that, some of my arrangements are, like the last scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, no doubt gathering dust under Music Hall in Cincinnati. But I know that most want much more than a western medley or overly-simplistic arrangements of Beatles songs."

Brubeck is a man who has no regrets about the direction his life has taken, and he now adds to the lists of his accomplishments a position at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, where he coaches jazz ensembles and teaches jazz piano, electric bass and trombone. But those fundamental, almost genetic, parts of the Brubeck makeup, performing and composing, remain as important as ever: he tours and records with brother Dan's jazz group, The Brubeck Brothers Quartet as well as Chris' other band, Triple Play, a folksy, bluesy trio, which performs Chris' songs and features vocals by all. He continues to write for orchestra and film, and even one of his earliest songs has returned to "haunt him", having recently been recorded by Frederica von Stade. "A philosopher once said that your life is the sum of the decisions you make along the way, so how can I have any regrets? …whatever's happened has always been my choice."