Ken Peplowski: Unheard Bird

Even when the recording (in this case, two) is a classic—as, for example, Charlie Parker's memorable Bird with Strings (Mercury Records, 1950)—some songs that deserve better are necessarily left on the cutting-room floor. Some may see that as disappointing, while others—like reed specialist Ken Peplowski—embrace it as an opportunity. On Unheard Bird, Peplowski—with strings and a core quartet—presents a series of fourteen generally likable themes, most of which were destined for Parker's album but were somehow passed over, and three others that can be heard only in hard-to-find bootleg recordings.

There are some notable departures. While Parker was the lone soloist on Bird with Strings, Peplowski (who, unlike Bird, plays tenor sax or clarinet) shares those duties with trumpeter Terell Stafford and pianist Glenn Zaleski, and whereas Parker played only standards from the Great American Songbook, Peplowski leads with compositions by Gerry Mulligan ("Gold Rush") and George Russell ("Ezz-Thetic") and also enfolds Earl Hines' never-recorded "When I Dream of You," Mercer Ellington's "Moon Mist" and Neal Hefti's "Repetition." The finale, "You Must Believe in Spring," is a standard in its own right but not from the GAS, as it was written by Jacques Demy and Michel Legrand many years after Parker died in 1955.

"Gold Rush" and "Ezz-Thetic" are strange choices to lead the way, for at least two reasons: first, they are jazz compositions that do not readily lend themselves to string backing; and second, they serve only to amplify the excellence of writers such as Jerome Kern, the Gershwin brothers, Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Green and J. Fred Coots whose compositions are among those that follow. Peplowski does include one song recorded on Bird with Strings, the Gershwins' "Summertime" from the folk opera Porgy and Bess. Peplowski's rhythm section—bassist Peter Washington, drummer Willie Jones III—share the spotlight on "Love Walked In," soloing smartly and trading eights and fours, while Stafford is the main man on "Ezz-Thetic," "Gone with the Wind" (with Zaleski) and "Stardust."

On the one hand, Unheard Bird is by and large pretty good, with a number of pleasurable moments; on the other, it falls considerably short of emulating a classic—perhaps a healthy albeit implausible dose of Bird himself would have helped—and in fact leaves a definite impression that it is appreciably less than it could have been. More strings? Less strings? More tasteful arrangements? Better sonic balance? It is really hard to say. What can be noted is that even though everyone plays well enough, the sum of their efforts is seldom persuasive. As noted, an above-average session that could—and arguably should—have been better.

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