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…
MONTEREY, CALIF.—The Monterey Jazz Festival has announced the release of The Art of Jazz: Monterey Jazz Festival / 50 Years, a celebratory coffee table book that captures the MJF experience through posters, program covers and exclusive photographs dating back to 1958.
“As we approached our 50th year, we wanted to have a book that showed literally the ‘art’ of the festival,” said Tim Jackson, general manager of the Monterey Jazz Festival since 1992. “The posters demonstrate the progression of the festival’s artistic statement, not just on stage, but how its images have changed over the years.”
The book also includes a foreword by actor and filmmaker Clint Eastwood (a member of MJF’s board of directors) and a decade-by-decade look at the world and the festival, explored through essays and photographs.
The 142-page book is available for pre-order at the MJF website, montereyjazzfestival.org. It will arrive in bookstores across the country July 31.
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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