Ken Peplowski: Noir Blue

Noir Blue is heavy on the Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn book, clocking in with a third of the 10 selections on the disc. The seldom played "Bourbon Street Jingling Jollies" plays like a light Latin ballad, with Peplowski's taut clarinet keeping close score. Strayhorn's "Multi-Colored Blue" faintly recalls "Our Love is Here to Stay." Peplowski's clarinet is slippery, coating the sparse accompaniment by his rhythm section. It is a sound to behold, well-balanced and wholesome. His blues sensibility is tested about half-way through the piece and Peps passes with flying colors.

The title tune is a moody, ascending affair that recalls "Mood Indigo" like the trace of cologne left by a recently departed inamorata. Berg's piano is as hauntingly pensive as Peplowski's clarinet. The two sonically fill out the song with the rhythm section. Peplowski uses some Jimmy Giuffre flights of fancy in his second solo, opening the song widely.

Peplowski's tenor playing is equally beguiling on Hoagy Carmichael's "Riverboat Shuffle" and the Jerome Kern chestnut, "Nobody Else But Me." While never straying too far from the source, Peplowski and company produce a full-bodied release of solid interpretations that are as pleasing as they are compelling.

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