Ken Peplowski

Ken Peplowski (born 23 May 1959 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American clarinetist of mainstream jazz. Occasionally, he also plays tenor and alto saxophone.

Life and work

Peplowski began performing publicly at age 10 and first played in the orchestra family (his brother Ted plays the trumpet ) and in polka orchestras in the area around Cleveland, but turned during his high school days to jazz. 1978 to 1980 he toured with the " Ghost Orchestra" by Tommy Dorsey led by Buddy Morrow (alto saxophone, but also clarinet), who with his quartet heard Peplowski on a Jazz Festival in Cleveland. During this tour he also had the opportunity to study with Sonny Stitt. In 1980 he moved to New York, where he played in various jazz styles. From 1984, he was a member of the tenor saxophonist ( by Benny Goodman two years before his death reissued ) Bennie Goodman Orchestra. He described Goodman, with whom he is often compared, as hard ( "extremely tough" ) bandleader who, however, was against him as hard as against others and with whom he got along well .. From 1987, he took for Concord Records on: Sun, accompanied he Mel Tormé and Rosemary Clooney; more than 20 albums he played as a leader, including a duet with guitarist Howard Alden. He also released albums by Nagel Heyer and Arbors Records. Peplowski is heard on the soundtrack of several Woody Allen movies. In 2007 he became a consultant in the field of jazz for the Oregon Festival of American Music and directed the parties at the John G. Shedd Jazz Institute of the Arts in Eugene (Oregon ).

Prizes and awards

His album "The Natural Touch" received the 1992 Prize of the German Record Critics.