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…
The North Texas Jazz Festival will celebrate its eighth year at a new location.
The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Addison, Texas, will serve as the new location for the three-day invitational featuring more than 50 big bands, combos and vocal jazz groups representing universities, community colleges, high schools and middle schools from across the United States. The event closes with a private performance by David Binney.
Wednesday’s concert includes a private performance from the Two O’Clock Lab Band. The North Texas Jazz Singers and the One O’Clock Lab Band will perform Thursday evening. Student performers selected as “outstanding” will appear on stage, along with saxophonist Binney, who will also perform on Friday night as part of the event’s finale.
Although the evening concerts are exclusive to the festival attendees, the public is invited to participate in several activities throughout the North Texas Jazz Festival. On Thursday, master classes with UNT staff will be held. On April 4, Binney will present a Question and Answer session. Throughout the entire festival, the public is invited to attend any of the school performances. Additionally, noted jazz film collector Hal Miller will be presenting rare jazz films from his personal archive.
More info: ntjazzfest.unt.edu
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…
