Ken Peplowski (born May 23, 1959) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

clarinetist and

tenor saxophonist The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

. He was born in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, United States, and known primarily for playing

swing music Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands ...

. For over a decade, Peplowski recorded for

Concord Records Concord Records is an American record label owned by Concord and based in Los Angeles, California. Concord Records was launched in 1995 as an imprint designed to reach beyond the company's foundational Concord Jazz label. The label's artists have ...

. In 2007, Peplowski was named jazz advisor of

Oregon Festival of American Music Oregon Festival of American Music is an eclectic, thematically-based summer music festival that has been held annually in Eugene, Oregon since 1992. Produced by The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts, OFAM (as it is referred to locally) has, thro ...

and music director of Jazz Party at The Shedd, both in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

Awards and honors

* Best Jazz Record of the Year,

Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik The Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik ("German Record Critics' Award") was established in Germany in 1963 by publisher Richard Kaselowsky with the aim of setting the "most rigorous standards for supreme achievement and quality" in the field ...

, ''The Natural Touch'' (1992) *The ''Satchmo Award'' presented by the Jazz Club of Sarasota in March, 2014

Discography

As leader/co-leader

* ''Double Exposure'' (

Concord Jazz Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the j ...

, 1988) – recorded in 1987 * ''Sonny Side'' (Concord Jazz, 1989) * The Ken Peplowski Quintet, ''Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool'' (Concord Jazz, 1990) * ''Illuminations'' (Concord Jazz, 1991) * ''Natural Touch'' (Concord Jazz, 1992) * ''Steppin' with Peps'' (Concord Jazz, 1993) * ''Ken Peplowski and Howard Alden'' with

Howard Alden Howard Vincent Alden (born October 17, 1958) is an American jazz guitarist born in Newport Beach, California. Alden has recorded many albums for Concord Records, including four with seven-string guitar innovator George Van Eps. Early life How ...

(Concord Jazz, 1993) – recorded in 1992 * ''Live at Ambassador Auditorium'' (Concord Jazz, 1994) * ''Encore'' with Howard Alden (Concord Jazz, 1995) * ''It's a Lonesome Old Town'' (Concord Jazz, 1995) * ''The Other Portrait'' (Concord Concerto, 1996) * ''Grenadilla'' (Concord Jazz, 1998) * ''Last Swing of the Century'' (Concord Jazz, 1999) * ''The Feeling of Jazz'' with

Tommy Newsom Thomas Penn Newsom (February 25, 1929 – April 28, 2007) was a saxophone player in the NBC Orchestra on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', for which he later became assistant director. Newsom was frequently the band's substitute dir ...

( Arbors, 1999) * ''Just Friends'' with

George Masso George Masso (November 17, 1926 – October 22, 2019) was an American jazz trombonist, bandleader, vibraphonist, and composer specializing in swing and Dixieland. Masso is notable for his work from 1948–1950 as a member of the Jimmy Dorsey band ...

( Nagel-Heyer, 2002) * ''Easy to Remember'' (Nagel-Heyer, 2004) * ''Memories of You'' (

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

, 2006) – recorded in 2005 * ''When You Wish Upon a Star'' (Venus, 2007) – recorded in 2006 * ''Happy Together: Live at Birdland Volume One'' with

Jesper Thilo Jesper Thilo (born 28 November 1941) is a Danish jazz musician, mainly known as a tenor saxophonist, alto saxophonist and clarinetist. He is considered to be one of the top European straight-ahead jazz musicians of the post-1970 period. Ben ...

(Nagel-Heyer, 2008) * ''Pow-Wow'' with Howard Alden (Arbors, 2008) * Ken Peplowski Gypsy Jazz Band, ''Gypsy Lamento'' (Venus, 2008) – recorded in 2007 * ''Every Time We Say Goodbye'' (Venus, 2008) – recorded in 2007 * ''Stardust'' with the New York Trio (

, 2009) – recorded in 2008 * ''E Pluribus Duo'' with

Dick Hyman Richard Hyman (born March 8, 1927) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Over a 70-year career, he has worked as a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, electronic musician, and composer. He was named a National Endowment for the Art ...

(Victoria, 2009) * ''Noir Blue'' (

Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been ...

, 2010) * ''Like a Lover'' with

Nicki Parrott Nicki Parrott (pronounced pa-ROTT) is a jazz vocalist and bass player from Australia. Background Parrott took piano lessons when she was four years old, then learned flute. When she was fifteen, she started playing double bass, and after grad ...

(Venus, 2011) – recorded in 2017 * ''In Search Of'' (Capri, 2011) * ''Live at the Kitano'' with Dick Hyman (Victoria, 2013) * ''Maybe September'' (Capri, 2013) * ''The Clarinet Maestros'' with Julian Marc Stringle, Craig Milverton (Merfangle, 2015) * ''At the Watermill'' with Alan Barnes (Woodville, 2015) * ''Enrapture'' (Capri, 2016) * ''Duologue'' with Adrian Cunningham (Arbors, 2018) – recorded in 2010 * ''Amizade'' with Diego Figueiredo (Arbors, 2019) * Ken Peplowski Quartet, ''Petite Fluer'' (Venus, 2019) – recorded in 2018

As sideman

With

Charlie Byrd Charlie Lee Byrd (September 16, 1925 – December 2, 1999) was an American jazz guitarist. Byrd was best known for his association with Brazilian music, especially bossa nova. In 1962, he collaborated with Stan Getz on the album '' Jazz Samba' ...

* ''The Bossa Nova Years'' (Concord, 1991) * ''Aquarelle'' (Concord Concerto, 1994) * ''Moments Like This'' (Concord, 1994) * ''Homage to Jobim'' (Concord Picante, 2005) With

Eddie Higgins Edward Haydn Higgins (February 21, 1932 – August 31, 2009) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and orchestrator. His performance and composition in 1959's " Cry of Jazz" is preserved in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. Bi ...

* ''It's Magic'' (

, 2006) * ''It's Magic Vol.2'' (Venus, 2007) * ''A Handful of Stars'' (Venus, 2009) With

* ''Swing Is Here'' (Reference, 1996) * ''E Pluribus Duo'' (Victoria, 2009) * ''Live at the Kitano'' (Victoria, 2013) With

Susannah McCorkle Susannah McCorkle (January 1, 1946 – May 19, 2001) was an American jazz singer. Life and career A native of Berkeley, California, McCorkle studied Italian literature at the University of California at Berkeley before dropping out to move to ...

* ''No More Blues'' (Concord Jazz, 1989) * ''From Bessie to Brazil'' (Concord Jazz, 1993) * ''From Broadway to Bebop'' (Concord Jazz, 1994) * ''Easy to Love: The Songs of Cole Porter'' (Concord Jazz, 1996) With

* ''Like a Lover'' (Venus, 2011) * ''The Look of Love'' (Venus, 2014) * ''Yesterday Once More: The Carpenters Song Book'' (Venus, 2016) With

Leon Redbone Leon Redbone (born Dickran Gobalian; August 26, 1949 – May 30, 2019) was a singer-songwriter and musician specializing in jazz, blues, and Tin Pan Alley classics. Recognized by his hat (often a Panama hat), dark sunglasses, and black tie, Red ...

* ''Red to Blue'' (August 1985) * ''Sugar'' (Private Music, 1990) * ''Up a Lazy River'' (Private Music, 1992) * ''Whistling in the Wind'' (Private Music, 1994) * ''Any Time'' (Blue Thumb, 2001) With

Randy Sandke Jay Randall Sandke (born May 5, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois) is a jazz trumpeter and guitarist. While a student at Indiana University in 1968, he and Michael Brecker started a jazz-rock band (Mrs. Seamon's Sound Band) that performed at the Notre D ...

* ''Stampede'' (Jazzology, 1992) * ''I Hear Music'' (Concord Jazz, 1993) * ''The Bix Beiderbecke Era'' (Nagel-Heyer, 1993) * ''The Re-discovered Louis and Bix'' (Nagel-Heyer, 2000) * ''Inside Out'' (Nagel-Heyer, 2002) * ''Randy Sandke Meets Bix Beiderbecke'' (Nagel-Heyer, 2002) * ''The Music of Bob Haggart'' (Arbors, 2002) With

Loren Schoenberg Loren Schoenberg (born July 23, 1958) is a tenor saxophonist, conductor, educator, and jazz historian. He has won two Grammy Awards for Best Album Notes. He is the former Executive Director and currently Senior Scholar of the National Jazz Museum ...

* ''Time Waits for No One'' (Musicmasters, 1987) * ''Solid Ground'' (Musicmasters, 1988) * ''Just A-Settin' and A-Rockin' '' (Musicmasters, 1990) With

Mel Torme Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

* ''

Mel Tormé and the Marty Paich Dektette – Reunion ''Mel Tormé and the Marty Paich Dektette – Reunion'' is a 1988 album by the American jazz singer Mel Tormé, accompanied by a big band arranged and led by Marty Paich. It was recorded over three days at Ocean Way Studios, on Sunset at Gower in ...

'' (Concord, 1988) * '' Mel Tormé and the Marty Paich Dektette – In Concert Tokyo'' (Concord, 1988) * '' Sing Sing Sing'' (Concord, 1992) * '' A Tribute to Bing Crosby'' (Concord, 1994) With others *

, ''The Howard Alden Trio Plus Special Guests Ken Peplowski & Warren Vache'' (Concord Jazz, 1989) *

Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...

, ''Steve Allen Plays Jazz Tonight'' (Concord Jazz, 1993) *

Lucie Arnaz Lucie Désirée Arnaz (born July 17, 1951) is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of actors Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Early life Arnaz was born at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of acto ...

, ''Just in Time'' (Concord Jazz, 1993) *

Eden Atwood Eden Atwood is an American jazz singer and actress. She is the daughter of composer Hubbard Atwood and the granddaughter of the novelist A. B. Guthrie Jr. Career Atwood was born in Memphis, Tennessee. When she was five, her parents got a divorc ...

, ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' (Concord Jazz, 1994) *

Dan Barrett Dan Barrett is an American musician from Connecticut, New England. He is a member of the rock duo Have a Nice Life. Outside of this, he has released solo work primarily under the names Giles Corey and Black Wing. In 2003, he founded the record labe ...

, ''Strictly Instrumental'' (Concord Jazz, 1987) * Cheryl Bentyne, ''the Gershwin Songbook'' (ArtistShare, 2010) *

Ruby Braff Reuben "Ruby" Braff (March 16, 1927 – February 9, 2003) was an American jazz trumpeter and cornetist. Jack Teagarden was once asked about him on the Garry Moore television show and described Ruby as "the Ivy League Louis Armstrong". Braff ...

, ''Cornet Chop Suey'' (Concord Jazz, 1994) *

Jim Cullum Jr. James Albert Cullum Jr., better known as Jim Cullum Jr. (September 20, 1941 – August 11, 2019), was an American jazz cornetist known for his contributions to Dixieland jazz. His father was Jim Cullum Sr., a clarinetist who led the Happy Jazz ...

, ''Fireworks! Red Hot & Blues'' (Riverwalk, Live from the Landing, 1996) *

Kenny Davern John Kenneth Davern (January 7, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American jazz clarinetist. Biography He was born in Huntington, Long Island, to a family of mixed Jewish and Irish-Catholic ancestry. His mother's family originally came from Vi ...

, ''The Jazz KENNection'' (Arbors, 2001) *

Peter Ecklund Peter Ecklund (September 27, 1945 – April 8, 2020) was an American jazz cornetist. Career In 1967, Ecklund received a degree from Yale University. He went on tour with singer Paula Lockheart and started a jazz band, in addition to working with ...

, ''Peter Ecklund and the Melody Makers'' (Stomp Off, 1988) *

Lars Erstrand Lars Erstrand (27 September 1936 Uppsala, Sweden – 11 March 2009) was a Swedish vibraphonist. Career Erstrand began his musical life on piano, but after hearing Lionel Hampton he changed to vibraphone. During the 1960s he joined a band led by c ...

, ''Beautiful Friendship'' (Sittel, 1992) *

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

, ''Easy Come Easy Go'' (Naive, 2008) *

Marty Grosz Martin Oliver Grosz (born February 28, 1930) is an American jazz guitarist, banjoist, vocalist, and composer born in Berlin, Germany, the son of artist George Grosz. He performed with Bob Wilber and wrote arrangements for him. He has also worked ...

, ''Acoustic Heat'' (Sackville, 2006) * Scott Hamilton, ''Groovin' High'' (Concord Jazz, 1992) *

Hank Jones Henry Jones Jr. (July 31, 1918 – May 16, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored ...

, ''Lazy Afternoon'' (Concord Jazz, 1989) *

Rebecca Kilgore Rebecca Kilgore (born September 24, 1949) is an American jazz vocalist based in Portland, Oregon. She has been called "one of the best interpreters of the Great American Songbook." She has performed with jazz pianist and composer Dave Frishberg, ...

, ''Rebecca Kilgore with the Keith Ingham Sextet'' (Jump, 2001) *

Erich Kunzel Erich Kunzel, Jr. (March 21, 1935 – September 1, 2009) was an American orchestra conductor. Called the "Prince of Pops" by the ''Chicago Tribune'', he performed with a number of leading pops and symphony orchestras, especially the Cincinnati ...

, ''Route 66: That Nelson Riddle Sound'' (Telarc, 2000) * Barbara Lea, ''At the Atlanta Jazz Party'' (Jazzology, 1993) *

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

, ''Love Held Lightly'' (Angel, 1993) *

Jay Leonhart Jay Leonhart (born December 6, 1940) is a double bassist, singer, and songwriter who has worked in jazz and popular music. He has performed with Judy Garland, Bucky Pizzarelli, Carly Simon, Frank Sinatra, and Sting. Leonhart is noted for his cl ...

, ''Sensitive to the Touch: The Music of Harold Arlen'' (Groove Jams, 1998) *

, ''Trombone Artistry'' (Nagel-Heyer, 1995) *

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...

, ''The History of Jazz, Volume 1'' (Arbors, 2000) * Michael Moore, ''The History of Jazz, Volume 2'' (Arbors, 2000) *

, ''The Feeling of Jazz'' (Arbors, 1999) *

John Pizzarelli John Paul Pizzarelli Jr. (born April 6, 1960, in Paterson, New Jersey) is an American jazz guitarist and vocalist. He has recorded over twenty solo albums and has appeared on more than forty albums by other recording artists, including Paul McCa ...

, ''Let There Be Love'' (Telarc, 2000) * John Pizzarelli, ''Italian Intermezzo'' (Menus and Music, 2000) *

Spike Robinson Henry Bertholf "Spike" Robinson (January 16, 1930 – October 29, 2001) was a jazz tenor saxophonist. He began playing at age twelve, recording on several labels, including Discovery, Hep and Concord. However, he sought an engineering degree and ...

, George Masso, ''Play Arlen'' (Hep, 1992) *

Marilyn Scott Marilyn Scott (born December 21, 1949 in Altadena, California) is an American jazz vocalist. Scott got her start performing locally at age 15. She went to college in San Francisco, singing in both jazz and pop ensembles there. She was noticed by ...

, ''Every Time We Say Goodbye'' (Venus, 2008) *

George Shearing Sir George Albert Shearing, (13 August 1919 14 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 t ...

, '' George Shearing in Dixieland'' (Concord Jazz, 1989) *

Andy Stein Andy Stein is an American saxophone and violin player. He is a member of The Guys All-Star Shoe Band on the radio show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' and the movie. He was a founding member of the country rock band Commander Cody and His Lost Plan ...

, ''Goin' Places'' (Stomp Off, 1987) * Various, ''Sweet and Lowdown'' (soundtrack) (Sony Classical 1999) *

Frank Vignola Frank Vignola (born December 30, 1965) is an American jazz guitarist. He has played in the genres of swing, fusion, gypsy jazz, classical, and pop. Career Vignola grew up on Long Island, New York. His father played accordion and banjo and ...

, ''Let It Happen'' (Concord Jazz, 1994) *

Terry Waldo Terry Waldo (born November 26, 1944) is an American pianist, composer, and historian of early jazz, blues, and stride music, and is best known for his contribution to ragtime and his role in reviving interest in this form, starting in the 1970 ...

, ''Footlight Varieties'' (Stomp Off, 1990) *

Carol Welsman Carol Welsman (born September 29, 1960)"Carol Welsman." ''Gale Biography in Context''. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2018-03-25. is a Canadian jazzy pianist who accompanies her own easy listening,conversati ...

, ''I Like Men'' (Welcar, 2009) * Carol Welsman, ''Memories of You'' (Fab, 2009) * Paula West, ''Come What May'' (Hi Horse 2001)

Publications

Frank Barrett and Ken Peplowski (Sep. - Oct., 1998) "Minimal Structures within a Song: An Analysis of 'All of Me, ''Organization Science'' Vol. 9, No. 5

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peplowski, Ken 1959 births Living people Jazz musicians from Ohio Musicians from Cleveland 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 20th-century clarinetists 20th-century saxophonists 21st-century clarinetists 21st-century American saxophonists American jazz clarinetists Concord Records artists Dixieland clarinetists Dixieland revivalist clarinetists Dixieland revivalist saxophonists Dixieland saxophonists Jazz clarinetists Mainstream jazz clarinetists Mainstream jazz saxophonists Statesmen of Jazz members Swing clarinetists Swing saxophonists Arbors Records artists Nagel-Heyer Records artists