Ken Peplowski Quartet at The Side Door

There can be few readers of The Clarinet who are unfamiliar with the outstanding artistry and career of Ken Peplowski. He is one of the finest jazz instrumentalists on the scene today. Russell Davies of BBC Two hailed him as the greatest living jazz clarinetist. The Siletz Bay Music Festival in Oregon referred to him as “the living Benny Goodman.”1

Ken is also one of the most recorded jazz players to date, with over 50 CDs as soloist and nearly 400 as a featured sideman. He has performed with Charlie Byrd, Mel Tormé, Rosemary Clooney, Hank Jones, Peggy Lee, Bill Charlop, Woody Allen, Benny Goodman and many other legendary musicians. Centered in New York City, Ken travels about half the year playing in clubs, colleges, jazz societies, parties, concert halls and festivals. He is a longtime performer on and consultant to The Jazz Cruise, and in 2013 was elected into the Jazz Cruise Hall of Fame. In addition, Ken is the artistic director of the Newport Beach (California) Jazz Party and the Sarasota (Florida) Jazz Festival, where he was awarded the “Satchmo” award for his “unique and enduring contribution to the living history of jazz.”2 Much of his work on the road is done with his big band or his quartet. Wherever he plays, Ken is received with great admiration by his audiences.