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…
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation will present a new festival later this month on the city’s storied Congo Square.
The inaugural Congo Square Rhythms Festival on Sept. 30 will feature a lineup of Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, and African drum and dance performances, as well as a special mass featuring the Blind Boys of Alabama.
The festival will pay tribute to the square’s significant past as a birthplace of sorts for new African-American art forms. The festivities include a mass at St. Augustine Church (1210 Governor Nicholls St.), a procession to the square and two stages of free music throughout the day.
For more information about the festival, visit jazzandheritage.org/congosquare.
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…
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