Feb 3, 2026 12:10 AM
In Memoriam: Ken Peplowski, 1959–2026
Ken Peplowski, a clarinetist and tenor saxophonist who straddled the worlds of traditional and modern jazz, died Feb. 2…
Pianist Billy Taylor will release Billy Taylor & Gerry Mulligan Live at MCG on Tuesday, following the online release of his first extended work.
The album, recorded live at Pittsburgh’s Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild (MCG) in 1993, captured a unique performance between the two jazz masters, also including Chip Jackson on bass and Carl Allen on drums. The date took place three years before Mulligan’s death, and showcases his jovial relationship with longtime friend Taylor.
The record comes on the heels of new material on Taylor’s web site. His extended work, Suite for Jazz Piano and Orchestra, has made its online debut on billytaylor.com. Taylor was commissioned to write the suite for the Utah Symphony in the 1970s, and he went on to write a number of other lengthy works, including “Let Us Make A Joyful Noise” and “Peaceful Warrior,” which will also be featured on the site later this year.
Peplowski first came to prominence in legacy swing bands, including the final iteration of the Benny Goodman Orchestra, before beginning a solo career in the late 1980s.
Feb 3, 2026 12:10 AM
Ken Peplowski, a clarinetist and tenor saxophonist who straddled the worlds of traditional and modern jazz, died Feb. 2…
Hammond came to the blues through the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s, which he experienced firsthand in New York’s Greenwich Village.
Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
“I play what I want and what I like,” said Andrew Cyrille. “I use my knowledge artistically and professionally.”
Feb 3, 2026 12:15 AM
Midway through August, a few days after concluding a week at the Village Vanguard with the quartet that Andrew Cyrille…
Marsalis will, if he chooses to use it, have a strong voice in perpetuating his vision through a role in choosing his successors.
Feb 3, 2026 12:09 AM
For the better part of a year, rumors have been swirling that Wynton Marsalis was going to step down as artistic and…
Lettuce, from left: Eric Coomes, Adam Deitch, Ryan Zoidis, Eric Bloom, Adam Smirnoff and Nigel Hall
Feb 17, 2026 11:05 AM
They were Berklee misfits. Neither jazzy enough for the straightahead crowd at Boston’s highly prestigious College of…
