Jazz Articles about Ken Peplowski
About Ken Peplowski
Instrument: Clarinet
Article Coverage | Calendar | Albums | Photos | Similar ArtistsThe Ken Peplowski Big Band: Sunrise
by Jack Bowers
Many contemporary big bands are all about “breaking new ground" and “exploring new pathways." Not this one. Ace clarinetist Ken Peplowski, who has performed and recorded with myriad large ensembles, at home and abroad, but has seldom led one--although he did record one other big-band album, Last Swing of the Century (Concord Jazz, 1999)--simply wants to make beautiful music, a goal he and his hand-picked corps of merry men (and one woman) easily reach on Sunrise, as they glide smoothly ...
read moreKen Peplowski: Enrapture
by Dan Bilawsky
How on earth do you successfully bind the music of Duke Ellington, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Fats Waller, Herbie Nichols, Bernard Herrmann, Peter Erskine, and Noël Coward into one coherent statement? The answer is simple: You don't, unless you're Ken Peplowski. Over the course of ten tracks from the aforementioned composers and other well-known tunesmiths, Peplowski manages to simultaneously express his love of myriad sounds and styles, a fondness for days gone by, and an ability to move ever ...
read moreKen Peplowski: Maybe September
by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
In a world where celebrities are anointed and dismissed by the shifting whims of the Twitterverse, it's easy to overlook the steady fires that keep the old traditions burning. The retro cover of Maybe September instantly signals that, once again, the ever-superb reedist Ken Peplowski, aided by the invaluable Capri Record label, will be honoring and extending these traditions. But it's not just a matter of blowing the dust off forgotten antiques: he makes splendid and tasteful music out of ...
read moreFour Artists Of The Jazz Clarinet Renaissance
by Dan Bilawsky
Since the jazz clarinet never really died, renaissance--or rebirth--may not be the term that best describes what's happening to the instrument in the twenty-first century jazz universe; it is, however, a pretty good one word synopsis. The licorice stick was there at or near the start, tooting along next to the trumpet and trombone in early twentieth century New Orleans front lines, and its popularity carried over into the swing era, as clarinetists Benny Goodman and Artie ...
read moreKen Peplowski: In Search Of ...
by Dan McClenaghan
The splenetic and hard-nosed clarinetist/bandleader Benny Goodman admired tenor saxophonist Ken Peplowski enough to hire the younger musician on for his last performing band, during the mid-1980s. But the Cleveland, Ohio-born and bred Peplowski's main ax was, in fact, the clarinet. He spent a good part of his early career playing in Polish polka bands, and hiring on to play whatever other music jobs that were available. He eventually joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, under the baton of Buddy Morrow, ...
read moreKen Peplowski: In Search Of ...
by Bruce Lindsay
Ken Peplowski is a clarinet virtuoso, with a tone of such warmth and beauty that it takes only a few bars to create a feel-good atmosphere, either in performance or, as he ably demonstrates on In Search Of ..., in the studio. Although Peplowski has over 20 albums to his name as leader, he's still experimenting, still trying out new ideas--still, presumably, in search of something. The first nine tunes are recordings from a February 2010 quartet ...
read moreKen Peplowski/Bucky Pizzarelli Quintet at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola
by Dan Bilawsky
Ken Peplowski/Bucky Pizzarelli QuintetDizzy's Club Coca-ColaNew York, NYNovember 23, 2010 When the dust has settled on Halloween, the leaves have all fallen off of the trees and the temperature takes a dip, it's clear that Thanksgiving is only a short while away. At Thanksgiving, people come together with family, reunite with old friends and take pause to give thanks for all that we have. Jazz fans in New York go through the same process ...
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