Ken Peplowski

A jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, Ken is known primarily for playing in the swing music idiom. He is sometimes compared to Benny Goodman in terms of tone and virtuosity.

The late Mel Torme´said, “Since the advent of Benny Goodman, there have been too few clarinetists to fill the void that Goodman left. Ken Peplowski is most certainly one of those few. The man is magic. “The New York Times pronounced a concert of Ken’s “Goodman Straight Up, With A Twist Of Lightning. “These quotes only hint at Ken Peplowski’s virtuosity – not only is he an outstanding clarinetist and saxophone player, but he’s also a charismatic entertainer who has been delighting audiences for over 30 years with his warmth, wit, and musicianship.

“When you grow up in Cleveland, Ohio, playing in a Polish polka band, you learn to think fast on your feet”, says 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.”

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.”

In 1980, Ken moved to New York City, and was soon playing in all kinds of settings, from Dixieland 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. “I think Benny was as great a figure to the clarinet as Louis Armstrong was to the trumpet. He was an extremely tough band leader, but he was as demanding on himself as he was on us – if you showed him respect and were there to play his music for him, he respected you back, and I have yet to work with anyone else that could get such great results out of a band. Part of the key to unlocking the enigma of Benny was that he thought about music pretty much 24 hours a day, and sometimes that was to the exclusion of personal relationships. I liked him a lot, though, and he actually tried to get me signed to a record deal (with him as producer!) before I’d signed with anyone else.”

“What’s in the future? “Who knows? I love all kinds of music, and I’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´ clubs, or at home in NYC doing everything from playing on the soundtracks to Woody Allen movies, 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 Woody Allen, & 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 that I never stop learning, myself!”

To quote the Jazz Journal International, “Ken Peplowski is one of those fine young Americans who are currently setting so much of the pace in all that’s good in jazz. Ken Peplowski is a Buffet-Crampon artist, and plays the R-13 clarinet, ith a Portnoy mouthpiece and Van Doren German-cut reeds. He also plays a Yamaha tenor sax and a Berg Larsen mouthpiece.

“Ken’s next CD will be a ballad record on tenor sax and clarinet for Venus Records, and is coming out soon. Ken’s new releases include “Memories Of You” on Venus Records, and 2 upcoming releases “Little Dogs” with Greg Cohen and a 2-CD set on Venus Records. He is receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Elkhart Jazz Festival and is musical director for “The Jazz Cruise”, the Oregon Festival of American Music, and the Eugene Oregon Jazz Festival.