Saw Brubeck at Wash U in 2004. He was still incredible in his early 80s. My Dad, when he was in the Air Force in the early 50s, used to see him at The Blackhawk in San Francisco quite often. He said there were times he was literally looking directly over his shoulder watching him play piano. My Dad loved Miles, Monk, Garner, Peterson but Brubeck was always his favorite.
Nicki Minaj is such a talented rapper. Her own music has done very little for me. I was really hoping Kanye or someone would talk her into doing one full-on rap album before she started doing things like Bieber tracks and American Idol. I hope she will at some point.