Jazz Articles about Ken Peplowski

Ken Peplowski: Noir Blue

by AAJ Italy Staff
October 27, 2010

Ken Peplowski con questo disco sa come comunicare emozioni all'ascoltatore in quanto, come giustamente viene notato nelle note di copertina, “è ispirato" e non perchè deve fare qualcosa per essere presente sul mercato discografico a tutti i costi. Noir Blue costituisce una prova insolita, rivolta ad ascoltatori piuttosto smaliziati, che oltre agli standards di Ray Noble, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn e Hoagy Carmichael offre anche un original come “Little Dogs," brano senza un preciso centro tonale ed ispirato ad Ornette ...

Ken Peplowski: Noir Blue

by Martin Longley
May 13, 2010

In his liner notes, saxophonist/clarinetist Ken Peplowski reveals that after hitting fifty, he had no desire to make albums that are going through the motions of record company requirements. Not that such bodies are lately in a position to demand anything. He now intends to make recordings when the inspiration is strong and when the circumstances align in an encouraging fashion. A major part of this disc's genesis seems to be the rapport that Peplowski shares with pianist Shelly Berg. ...

Ken Peplowski: Noir Blue

by Raul d'Gama Rose
April 24, 2010

Ken Peplowski has much to say; not in the sense that he jabbers incessantly, as many men with horns (and embouchures for hire) sometimes do. However, in erudite and leaping ululations, and in warm, wafting glissandos he sings of the gaiety and sadness of life. This he does through clarinet or tenor saxophone, depending on the echo and longevity he wishes his harmonic monologues to have. An old soul, with a spectacular perspective on the past, Peplowski lives in a ...

Ken Peplowski: Noir Blue

by C. Michael Bailey
April 10, 2010

Noir Blue is a slight coloring outside the lines for clarinetist/saxophonist Ken Peplowski. His most recent recordings (with Arbors and Nagel Heyer) have focused on older swing forms and repertoire. Presently, Peplowski is playing pure jazz quartet music with pianist Shelly Berg, bassist Jay Leonhart, and drummer Joe La Barbera. The song choice is anything but standard, thought it never ventures too far from Peplowski's comfort zone.

Noir Blue is heavy on the Ellington/Strayhorn book, clocking in with a third ...

Ken Peplowski / Jesper Thilo: Happy Together - Live At Birdland Volume One

by Andrew Velez
February 18, 2009

Ken Peplowski and Jesper Thilo have much more in common than the solid expertise of each on both tenor saxophone and clarinet as demonstrated here. The two effortlessly and authentically bring the Swing Era to vibrant life anew. With “Peps," who began his professional career with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, one has only to hear the first few notes from his clarinet on “I Want to Be Happy" to appreciate how great an influence Benny Goodman had on him. Thilo's ...

Ken Peplowski Gypsy Jazz Band: Gypsy Lamento

by Martin Longley
December 14, 2008

This is a gypsy combo of the Django Reinhardt persuasion, rather than being fully-crazed wedding party cacophony. In fact, reedman Ken Peplowski makes matters even more specialized by concentrating on a preponderance of slow plodders rather than the frenetic hurtling that many gypsy jazz guitar outfits now prefer. The album's cover is slightly strange. Two pseudo-brides in billowing white silk cavort with a pair of goats. Is this what gypsy life entails? Half of the compositions are ...

Ken Peplowski: Clarinet Conqueror

by Ken Dryden
December 5, 2008

Ken Peplowski has been a busy player on the jazz scene since joining the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (directed by Buddy Morrow) in 1978. A gifted clarinetist and tenor saxophonist, he met Sonny Stitt while still with the Dorsey band, ended up studying sax with him and landed a dream job playing in Benny Goodman's final orchestra in the mid '80s until the jazz legend's death in 1986.

Before the decade was over, Peplowski was one of many young ...