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…
Gretchen Valade’s Dirty Dog Jazz Café will open Feb. 13 in Detroit’s Grosse Pointe Farms’ commercial district.
Valade’s $10 million endowment solidified and expanded the Detroit Jazz Festival held over Labor Day weekend, and by opening the Dirty Dog she has created a new venue for musicians.
“I wanted it to be like the Blue Note,” said Valade, a jazz pianist and founder of Mack Avenue records. “That was my second home.”
The Dirty Dog will feature local and national jazz artists, many from the Mack Avenue label, and it will be a hotspot during the Labor Day weekend when national acts are in town for the jazz festival.
The Dirty Dog will host bassist Rodney Whitaker and drummer Carl Allen for two shows a night, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., joined by singer Jennifer Sanon, a Wynton Marsalis protégé, on vocals for its opening week, Feb. 13–16.
Initially, there will be no cover charge at the club, which will be open Wednesday through Sundays.
More info: dirtydogjazz.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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