Ken Peplowski

“When you grow up in Cleveland, Ohio, playing in a Polish polka band, you learn to think fast on your feet”, says Ken Peplowski, who played his first pro engagement when he was still in elementary school. “From my first time performing in public, I knew I wanted to play music for a living.”

Ken, and his trumpet-playing brother Ted, made many local radio and TV appearances and played for Polish dances and weddings virtually every weekend all through high-school. “That’s where I learned to improvise, ‘fake’ songs, learn about chord changes, etc.- it’s exactly like learning to swim by being thrown into the water!”

By the time Ken was in his early teens, he was experimenting with jazz by playing in the school “stage” bands, and also by jamming with many of the local jazz musicians. “By the time I hit high school, I was teaching at the local music store, playing in our family band, and playing jazz gigs around town while still getting up early every day for school.”

After a year of college, Ken joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra under the direction of Buddy Morrow. “Buddy heard me with my quartet at a Cleveland jazz festival along with Teddy Wilson’s trio and the Dorsey band, and made an offer right then and there for me to not only play lead alto, but to have a feature spot on the clarinet with the rhythm section. It was a great ‘road-school’ – we learned the discipline that goes with playing one-nighters every day for 48 weeks out of the year, and Buddy was a great, very generous bandleader.”

Peplowski met Sonny Stitt while on the road with the Dorsey band, and studied with him. “He was, and is, an inspiration to all of of us who make a living ‘on the road’ – I’ve never heard anybody play with such amazing consistency as Sonny, through all kinds of settings.”

In 1980, Ken moved to New York City,and was soon playing in all kinds of settings, from traditional to avant-garde jazz. “Everything’s a learning experience in jazz music – there’s always an element of the unpredictable.” In 1984, Benny Goodman came out of retirement and put together a new band, hiring Ken on tenor saxophone.

Peplowski signed with Concord Records, under the tutelage of Carl Jefferson, the founder and president, and recorded close to 20 albums as a leader, including “The Natural Touch” in 1992 which won Best Jazz Record of the Year by the Prises Deutschen Schallplatten Kritiken, and “The Other Portrait”, recorded in Sophia Bulgaria with the symphony orchestra and highlighting Ken’s classical side. He also recorded two records on the Nagel Heyer label,”Lost In The Stars” and “Easy To Remember”, the latter of which features Bobby Short on his last recording. “I loved Bobby Short’s approach to the American songbook, and we’d talked about doing a record together for a while – I’m glad we got this one ‘in the can.’

“What’s in the future? “Who knows? I love all kinds of music, andI’d like to find more opportunities to bridge the gaps between different musical styles – I consider myself an interpreter of material – if something interests me, I try to put my own spin on it, without thinking or worrying about playing in any particular style. Basically, I like a challenge, I’m a sucker for a good melody, and I love playing for audiences, big or small.”

And he has certainly achieved these goals, be it in small clubs, the Hollywood Bowl (where he played a sold-out concert), headlining in Las Vegas, the Newport Jazz Festival, pops concerts, European festivals and clubs, or at home in NYC, doing everything from playing on the soundtracks to Woody Allen movies, guest soloing on records (his more interesting recent ones were Marianne Faithfull and Cuban vocalist Isaac Delgado) to taking on the role of music director for interactive French and Italian cookbooks (“Menus And Music”).

The litany of musicians Ken has collaborated with includes: Mel Torme, Leon Redbone, Charlie Byrd, Peggy Lee, George Shearing, Madonna, Hank Jones, Dave Frishberg, Rosemary Clooney, Tom Harrell, James Moody, Cedar Walton, Houston Person, Steve Allen, Bill Charlap, Woody Allen, Marianne Faithfull, Isaac Delgado & Erich Kunzel. (“Although not necessarily in that order,” says Ken).

Peplowski also does many workshops for students of all ages- “My goal is to get the students to learn how to teach themselves, and to learn how to bring out their own best qualities; after all, jazz is about individuality-first you learn the rules, then you break them. I would like to think of myself as a lifelong student!”

Ken Peplowski is a Buffet-Crampon artist, and plays the R-13 clarinet,with a Portnoy mouthpiece and Van Doren German-cut reeds. He also plays a Conn tenor sax and a Berg Larsen mouthpiece.

Ken's new CD is called "Sunrise" and it's a big band record of new arrangements written exclusively for him, plus some reworking of classic arrangements. His upcoming CD is a duo record with Brazilian guitarist Diego Figuereido entitled "Amizade".

He is currently the artistic director of the Sarasota Jazz Festival, the Newport Beach Jazz Party, and the Oregon Coast Jazz Party in Newport, Oregon. Ken Peplowski has also been bestowed this year's "Creative Arts Prize In Recognition Of Outstanding Contribution In The Field Of The Creative Arts" by the Polish American Historical Association.

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Ken Peplowski: Live at Mezzrow

Read "Live at Mezzrow" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 29, 2024

When one is diagnosed with multiple myeloma, as woodwind specialist Ken Peplowski was in June 2021, there are basically two alternatives: either accept the decision and throw in the towel or choose to fight and double down on doing what keeps you active and hopeful, in this case making beautiful music that swings. Obviously, as epitomized by the album Live at Mezzrow, Peplowski chose the latter path, and three years on has apparently won the battle, at least for now, ...

Album Review

Ken Peplowski: Unheard Bird

Read "Unheard Bird" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 3, 2024

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 ...

Profile

Meet Ken Peplowski

by AAJ Staff
August 25, 2024

This article was first published on All About Jazz in August 1998. In numerous rave reviews, critics have exalted Ken Peplowski as the epitome of jazz traditionalism. But repeated listenings of his work reveals that Peplowski is perhaps more experimental and diverse than some have described him. It is worth noting that while Benny Goodman, {{Artie Shaw and Ben Webster are strong inspirations, Ken has also recorded songs by Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane (and even The Beatles). ...

Play This!

Ken Peplowski: All the Things You Are

by John Chacona
July 17, 2024

Even if you are new to jazz, you have likely heard “All the Things You Are" dozens of times, maybe hundreds. But you have never heard it like this. Jerome Kern's tour through the circle of fifths, catnip for improvisers, is usually played as a mid-tempo stroll or faster, but it was written as a ballad for the Broadway stage. On Live at Mezzrow (Cellar Music Group, 2024). Ken Peplowski doubles down on the concept, adopting a daringly slow tempo ...

Album Review

David Larsen: The Peplowski Project

Read "The Peplowski Project" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
April 23, 2023

The Peplowski Project was a labor of love for saxophonist David Larsen, a longtime admirer of fellow reedman Ken Peplowski who sits in with Larsen's impressive quartet on each of the album's eleven numbers, playing clarinet on six, tenor saxophone on five. As for Larsen, he plays his Gerry Mulligan-flavored baritone sax on five of the session's first six numbers, then sets it aside in favor of the alto (on Al Cohn's “Jazz Line Blues"), tenor or ...

Album Review

Susie Meissner: I Wish I Knew

Read "I Wish I Knew" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
October 3, 2020

I wish I knew why the talented Philadelphia-based singer Susie Meissner chose to open her salute to the Great American Songbook with the only tune on the album that doesn't really qualify: Curtis Lewis' “The Great City." It's not a bad song but Cole Porter or Johnny Mandel it ain't. On the bright side, Meissner recovers quickly on the fourth album under her name with a burnished rendition of the title theme, a memorable composition by the legendary Hollywood songwriting ...

Album Review

Susie Meissner: I Wish I Knew

Read "I Wish I Knew" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
September 8, 2020

Over the past decade and three previous recordings, Philadelphia-based vocalist Susie Meissner has crafted an intelligently conceived and thoughtfully paced survey of the Great American Songbook. Meissner's considerations of the standard jazz repertoire, in concert with pianist John Shaddy's sturdy arrangements and educated performance manner, have emerged, evolving from chaste and reverent beginnings, into rich and supple layerings of stylistic and technical outreach with each subsequent recording. Meissner's debut, I'll Remember April (Lydian Jazz, 2009), emerged as a ...

Performance / Tour

An artful blending of two musical genres

Source: Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
February 27, 2018

Jazz and classical music rarely intersect. But they make interesting bedfellows when brought together by two musicians who are well at ease in both fields. Such was the case on Saturday, February 24 when pianist Dick Hyman and reed player Ken Peplowski joined forces with a 47-member orchestra conducted by Yakov Bergman. The “Symphony of Broadway" program at the Venice (FL) Performing Arts Center featured a wide variety of band formats.. Hyman, who turns 91 on March 8, has been ...
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Radio

This Week On Riverwalk Jazz: Clarinet Marmalade

Source: Don Mopsick
April 3, 2014

This week on Riverwalk Jazz The Jim Cullum Jazz Band offers an exploration of great pre-WWII voices of jazz clarinet with the help of prominent contemporary exponents of the “old school." Evan Christopher, Bob Wilber, Kenny Davern and Ken Peplowski perform with the Band and talk about their mentors and influences. The program is distributed in the US by Public Radio International. You can also drop in on a continuous stream of shows at the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound. ...
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Event

Columbus Jazz Orchestra Pays Tribute To The King Of Swing In Bravo, Benny!: The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert

Source: Scott Vezdos
March 3, 2014

Columbus, OH – Under the direction of world-renowned band leader and trumpet virtuoso Byron Stripling, the Columbus Jazz Orchestra (CJO) continues to break new ground while honoring the rich heritage of America’s classical music – jazz. On March 13-16 at the Southern Theatre, the CJO pays tribute to the “King of Swing” and his famous 1938 Carnegie Hall concert with “Bravo, Benny!” featuring Ken Peplowski and Bria Skonberg. On January 16, 1938, Benny Goodman brought his swing orchestra to America’s ...
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Festival

14th Annual Newport Beach Jazz Party Set Feb. 12-16

Source: Larry Taylor
February 7, 2014

Upcoming on Valentine’s Day weekend,eb.13-16, will be the 14th annual Newport Beach Jazz Party at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa in Orange county, California,featuring over 70 musicians playing “Right Down The Middle And Straight Ahead” Jazz. Among the highlights this year is a Salute to Jazz at the Philharmonic which toured decades ago, a tribute to Stan Getz and a Valentines Day dance. Here is a rundown of the other events: Thursday’s opening night in the ballroom features ...
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Recording

Ken Peplowski Keeps It Fresh and Vibrant with "In Search Of. . . "

Source: Gapplegate Music Review by Grego Edwards
June 25, 2011

For someone who is playing within a tradition, it is important to keep inspiration high, to keep yourself challenged and contributing on a high level. Where perhaps some have fallen victim over time to a kind of creeping fungus of the repertoire, the same tunes played in the same ways time and again, Ken Peplowski has found ways to keep his music very much a thing of today. His newest, In Search of. . . (Capri 74108-2), is a particularly ...
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Recording

From the Stacks 2011, Vol. 3: Michel Reis, Pitom, Rhys Chatham, Ken Peplowski, Others

Source: Something Else!
April 7, 2011

by S. Victor Aaron Rhys Chatham: The Man With The Horns. Many, many horns. It might be only the third Stacks so far this year, but it's a much overdue one. There's a whopping seven 2011 releases discussed here, with several other worthy ones being pushed back to a later fourth installment. Two of these albums are by veteran acts, but the remaining five capture five budding talents at or near the beginning of their recording careers as leaders. Some ...
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Event

Columbus Jazz Orchestra Honors Three BS of Jazz with "Basie, Buddy & Benny" Featuring Butch Miles & Ken Peplowski

Source: Michael Ricci
February 26, 2011

Jazz royalty takes center stage as the Jazz Arts Group of Columbus (JAG) celebrates Count Basie, Buddy Rich and the “King of Swing," Benny Goodman, March 16-20 at the historic Southern Theatre. Under the direction of Artistic Director Byron Stripling, the Columbus Jazz Orchestra honors the three Bs of jazz with “Basie, Buddy & Benny" featuring drummer Butch Miles and clarinetist Ken Peplowski. Playing with such luminaries as Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dave Brubeck, Mel Torme, Lena ...
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113

Performance / Tour

Ken Peplowski Quartet Friday & Saturday , January 4-5 at Kitano 2 Sets - 8:00 PM & 10:00 PM

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
January 3, 2008

Friday & Saturday, January 4-5, 2008 Ken Peplowski Quartet with Jay Leonhart-bass, Ted Rosenthal-piano, Tom Melito-drums At Kitano 66 Park Avenue (at 38th St.) New York City 212-885-7119 2 SETS - 8:00 PM & 10:00 PM $25 FRI./SAT. - $15 MIN./SET The late Mel Tormesaid, “Since the advent of Benny Goodman,there have been too few clarinetists to fill the void that Goodman left. Ken Peplowski is ...
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121

Performance / Tour

Jay Leonhardt Trio with Special Guest Ken Peplowski

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
August 21, 2007

FRIDAY & SAT AUGUST 24 & 25 THE KITANO HOTEL 66 Park Ave @ E.38 Street New York, N.Y. 212-885-7000

Presents the JAYLEONHART TRIO Jay Leonhart - Bass Wycliffe Gordon - Trombone Ted Rosenthal - Piano with Special Guest Ken Peplowski on Sax Friday August 24 only.

SETS AT 8:OO PM AND 10:00 PM RESERVATION ADVISED ...
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259

Performance / Tour

Ken Peplowski Quartet Featuring Bill Charlap and Martin Wind March 15-18 at the Jazz Standard

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
March 13, 2007

March 15-18 at the Jazz Standard

Ken Peplowski Quartet featuring Bill Charlap and Martin Wind

Ken Peplowski - clarinet, tenor saxophone Bill Charlap - piano Martin Wind - bass Joe LaBarbara - drums

Jazz Standard is located at 116 E. 27th Street between Lexington and Park Avenues in Manhattan 212-576-2232 http://www.jazzstandard.net ALL SHOW TIMES: 7:30 & 9:30PM + 11:30PM ON FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS

A masterful melodist with an effortless sense ...
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