The jazz world is mourning the loss of acclaimed saxophonist and clarinetist Ken Peplowksi, who died this week at the age of 66.
Below are the thoughts of WBGO's former Director of Editorial Content, and award-winning journalist on the passing of his great friend Ken Peplowski:
Never Without a Laugh or a Smile Remembering Ken Peplowski
It’s rare that we have to give bad news to our guests and the community at large. But on the final day of The Jazz Cruise, Ken Peplowski died suddenly. Since 2021, the clarinetist/saxophonist/bandleader had been suffering from multiple myeloma. He battled the often fatal disease with a unique combination of courage, fortitude and humor. After all, humor was just one of Ken’s many remarkable gifts. He was without question the quickest and sharpest wit amongst all our artists. Ken always brought the joy to every gig or occasion. No one came away from a conversation with him without a laugh or smile. His humor was both incisive and self-deprecating. He would as easily make fun of you as he would himself. A truly rare combination.
Ken earned the respect of his fellow musicians because of his dedication to the craft. As a musician, his virtuosity on the clarinet may have only been surpassed in his time by his close friends Anat Cohen and Paquito D’Rivera. Though both would argue that point, it was fitting that his last days were spent playing with those two. Ken, who worked with Benny Goodman, said that the legendary clarinetist and Artie Shaw had a huge rivalry. “Those days are gone now, because we realize there's few enough of us, so we need to support each other and just get up there and have fun.” Indeed, when I introduced him during this sailing of The Jazz Cruise, I said that we had the three greatest clarinetists of our time onboard. He said, “Well, we have Anat and Paquito, so who’s the third one?” Ken was kidding about his stature, of course.
Ken was also a remarkable tenor saxophonist, with a soft and fluid sound that was influenced by Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, Ben Webster and many other tenor greats. “For me, I spend most of my time practicing on clarinet, because that's the more unforgiving instrument,” Ken told me. “The technique transfers over to the saxophone. When I pick the saxophone up, it's all about reminding myself of what I want it to sound like. I'm not saying I achieved this, but my goal for sound on tenor would be people like Ben Webster and Zoot Sims.” Ken
reached that goal, as well documented on the more than 50 recordings he released as a leader on various jazz labels. Buy them. Stream them. Listen to them. You won’t be disappointed.
During a Listening Party on The Jazz Cruise this week, he spotlighted his most recent album, Unheard Bird. He was so proud of what he had produced with the previously unreleased arrangements for saxophone and strings that Charlie Parker had commissioned before his untimely death in 1955. Every August during the last few years, Ken presented material from that project at Birdland, a venue which he would return to year after year.
Ken was also an amateur musicologist, with a vast knowledge not only of jazz history, but also of non-jazz genres. He may have been one of the most knowledgeable Beatles fans that you could meet. He could tell you just about anything from their seminal recordings. If you were good friends with him, you could receive various bootleg recordings from those golden years. Who woulda thunk that a guy so associated with mainstream jazz had that in his quiver?
In the coming days, weeks, months and years, you will hear tributes galore to Ken’s musical genius and personal qualities.
For myself, I considered Ken a good friend, someone with whom I could pick up the phone and talk to for an hour or so about life, music, politics, sports, comedy, literature, film… Well, you get the idea. He was a friend to me, but he was a friend to many people. That was clear when he went public with his illness and the jazz community, including fans and fellow musicians, who all came forward during his time of need with support (both economic and emotional). It was the least that we could do for someone who gave us so much joy for so long.
Let us all remember Ken with a laugh and a smile.
You can hear Lee Mergner's 2024 interview with Ken Peplowski here.
