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…
Last night’s 50th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles established a retrospective tone while honoring current visionaries. Herbie Hancock took home top honors with Album Of The Year for River: The Joni Letters (Verve).
The win marked the first time in 43 years that a jazz album has been selected as album of the year. The last album was the Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto collaboration Getz/Gilberto in 1964. Hancock’s tribute to Joni Mitchell, which features Norah Jones and Corinne Bailey Rae, also won for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Prior to Sunday, Hancock had won 10 Grammy awards.
Other winners included Patti Austin’s Avant Gershwin(Rendezvous) for Best Jazz Vocal Album.
The late Michael Brecker was chosen for two awards, Best Jazz Instrumental Solo and Best Jazz Instrumental Album, for “Anagram” and Pilgrimage (Heads Up) respectively.
Best Latin Jazz Album went to Paquito D’Rivera Quintet’s Funk Tango (Paquito).
Maria Schneider’s “Cerulean Skies” off of Sky Blue (ArtistShare) was awarded Best Instrumental Composition.
John Clayton was selected for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist for his work on Queen Latifah’s “I’m Gonna Live Till I Die” from her Trav’lin’ Light (Verve) album.
The Best Traditional Blues Album was awarded to Henry James Townsend, Joe Willie “Pinetop” Perkins, Robert Lockwood, Jr. and David “Honeyboy” Edwards Last Of The Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live In Dallas (The Blue Shoe Project).
More info: grammy.com
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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