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…
Chicago harmonica ace Little Arthur Duncan died Aug. 20 at Kindred Hospital in Northlake, Ill. He was 74.
Born Feb. 5, 1934, in Indianola, Miss., Arthur moved to Chicago at age 16, where he heard and befriended Little Walter, who inspired him to take up the harmonica. While holding down a construction day job, he began performing around Chicago with John Brim, Floyd Jones, and Hip Lankchan. He would later own and operate the Artesia Lounge on Lake Street, which moved to West Madison Street and reopened as Backscratcher’s Social Club. Owning a club gave Arthur a regular place to perform, and he became a popular neighborhood attraction on the West Side. Twist Turner produced some of Arthur’s first recordings, which appeared first on cassette and then on Cannonball Records’ Blues Across America series.
As Arthur’s stature grew in Chicago, he recorded more, cutting two CDs for Delmark (Singin’ With The Sun and Live At Rosa’s Blues Lounge
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…
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