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…
Vocalist Angélique Kidjo is among the performers to contribute to Jazz Foundation of America’s #TheNewGig fundraiser.
(Photo: Courtesy Jazz Foundation Of America)On May 14, Jazz Foundation of America is set to host #TheNewGig fundraiser to benefit the organization’s Covid-19 Musicians’ Emergency Fund.
The evening, which aims to provide in-need performers with living expenses, is set to be hosted by actor and writer Keegan-Michael Key. Drummer Steve Jordan is the evening’s music director. New performances, which are scheduled to be produced prior to the stream, will include Jon Batiste, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Robert Cray, Davell Crawford, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stanley Jordan, Ivan Neville, Kim Wilson, Angélique Kidjo, Milton Nascimento and others.
“An entire community of artists who live gig to gig has gone from standstill to freefall, financially speaking, but their music has continued to give us solace and comfort in quarantine,” said Joe Petrucelli, JFA executive director, in a press release. “Support for #TheNewGig and the COVID-19 Musicians’ Emergency Fund provides these musicians direct assistance and creates a sense of solidarity and hope in a time of despair and uncertainty.”
The stream also will include past performances from JFA’s A Great Night In Harlem event—the nonprofit’s annual fundraiser that has been postponed this year because of the pandemic—as well as special appearances by Wayne Shorter and Bootsy Collins, among others.
Donations can be made at jazzfoundation.org/covid19 or by texting “NewGig” to 41444. The event’s stream can be found at the same URL. DB
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…
