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…
Chick Corea is set to issue the double album Plays (Concord Jazz) on Aug. 28.
(Photo: Toshi Sakurai/Chick Corea Prod.)Hearing Chick Corea in any setting, it’s apparent that his interests and influences range beyond the music that listeners most associate with the pianist. And for Plays, a double album due out Aug. 28 through Concord Jazz, Corea investigates the work of composers who have left an indelible mark on his life—and music across genres.
Offerings veer from the classical world to bossa nova and jazz, and include some of the pianist’s own original pieces. Below, Corea’s interpretation of the Jerome Kern standard “Yesterdays” premieres.
There’s a sober quality to the live take, but Corea still summons the ability to swing the melody, his left hand playfully searching out the rhythm.
“The thing that I do is similar to what [Thelonious] Monk did, to what Bill Evans and Duke Ellington did, and moving back into another era of music, what Bach and Mozart and Beethoven did,” Corea said in a press release. “These were all pianists who were composers at heart.”
An unplanned analog to Plays are the streaming solo rehearsals Corea started during the pandemic, which have included material by some of the same composers he covers on the album. DB
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.
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Richie Beirach was particularly renowned for his approach to chromatic harmony, which he used to improvise reharmonizations of originals and standards.
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“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…
