Name: Ken Peplowski Quartet
Start: 2026-01-17T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-01-17T21:00:00-05:00
Location: Holley Hall, Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center

“There have been too few clarinetists to fill the void that Benny Goodman left. Ken Peplowski is most certainly one of them" Mel Torme
About this Event
https://youtube.com/shorts/MC6RsPeyBLc?feature=shared

On Ken Peplowski....

“ — Ken was playing at Dizzy’s with yet another great, the wonderful Barbara Carroll. Tony Bennett is a longtime close friend of Ms. Carroll, and makes it his business to be there whenever she’s playing. On this night, upon hearing Mr. Peplowski with Ms. Carroll, Tony approached Ken after the set and said to him, in typically pithy Tony fashion, “You’re a helluva singer.” Tony is not a particularly verbose man - like his own here, Count Basie, he’ll never use two notes - or words - when one will do, and he chooses his words very carefully. Mr. Peplowski is a clarinet player, but when Tony describes him as a singer, he knows exactly what he’s talking about. For Ken, no less than Tony or any great singer, performing a song is all about telling the story, communicating the narrative.” Will Friedwald

In 2014, Ken was the recipient of the Sarasota Jazz Festival’s “Satchmo” award, given to him for his “unique and enduring contribution to the living history of jazz”; in March, Ken was also the guest of honor at a “Highlights In Jazz” concert in NYC saluting him for “his matchless musical achievements”. He was the 2015 recipient of HotHouse Magazine’s “Fans’ Decision Jazz Award” on clarinet.

In 2015, Mark Stryker of the Detroit Free Press had this to say about Ken Peplowski’s appearance at the Detroit International Jazz Festival:“Best repertoire diving: Clarinet Ken Peplowski, whose quartet played a joyful set Sunday under the blazing sun, resurrected two gorgeous ballads I’ve never heard played live: Billy Strayhorn’s “Ballad for Very Sad and Very Tired Lotus Eaters” and Noel Coward’s “I’ll Follow My Secret Heart.” The latter contained the most expressive reading of a melody I heard during the festival, as Peplowski’s long-breathed phrasing suggested Frank Sinatra. (Absopure Water Front Stage)”

"The program on clarinetist/tenor saxophonist Ken Peplowski’s new album illustrates that he is not only an adventurous, open-minded interpreter but also an insightful jazz historian. The diverse material on Enrapture includes Fats Waller’s “Willow Tree,” two tunes from Bernard Hermann’s score for Vertigo and a rousing, calypso-flavored rendition of Duke Ellington’s “The Flaming Sword.” All of it is delivered with finesse, as one would expect from Peplowski and his distinguished collaborators: pianist Ehud Asherie, bassist Martin Wind and drummer Matt Wilson. The swinging title track—which was composed by Herbie Nichols (who never recorded it)—spotlights Peplowski’s compelling clarinet work. Elsewhere, he shows off his skills as a fine and mellow balladeer with an intimate tenor sax tone on “When October Goes” and “Cheer Up, Charlie” (from the soundtrack to Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory). A spare arrangement of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Oh, My Love” with clarinet, bass and light percussion is stunning. It’s followed by another powerful tearjerker, “I’ll Follow My Secret Heart” (which Frank Sinatra recorded on his 1962 LP Sinatra Sings Great Songs From Great Britain). Kudos to Peplowski for crafting such terrific music and for shedding light on these intriguing compositions. " Bobby Reed, Downbeat Magazine