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…
Pianist Marian McPartland isn’t slowing down for her 90th birthday March 20. Instead, she has a new disc, Twilight World, due out March 11 on Concord and plans to play a series of concerts. She continues to tape her weekly radio show, Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz for NPR.
Twilight World, her first studio CD in nine years, features her regular Piano Jazz trio of bassist Gary Mazzaroppi and drummer Glenn Davis and includes some of her originals and a handful of tunes she has yet recorded in her nearly 100 sessions. McPartland includes two versions of compositions by Ornette Coleman. She also interprets tunes by her songwriter friends Alec Wilder (“Blackberry Winter”) and Burt Bacharach (“Alfie”).
“I’m so happy to have done this album,” she said. “It’s nice to have something you’re this happy with at this stage of life.”
During her birthday week (March 19–23), McPartland and her trio will perform at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York with special guests each night. These shows will be taped and highlights will be heard in a 90th birthday celebration edition of Piano Jazz. Among the artists paying tribute over the week’s shows will be Karrin Allison, Regina Carter, Jason Moran, Jeremy Pelt, Ken Peplowski, Chris Potter and others.
McPartland will again play Labor Day weekend at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival. This year will find multiple guests paying tribute and collaborating with McPartland onstage in another birthday bash.
More info: concordmusicgroup.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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