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 2023 Monterey Jazz Festival will be Tim Jackson’s last as artistic director.
(Photo: Courtesy MJF)Tim Jackson, long-time artistic director of the Monterey Jazz Festival, plans to leave his position at the end of February 2024, according to a statement released earlier this week. He will then continue as an artistic advisor to MJF for an interim time period prior to departing the organization in an official capacity.
“I want to let all of you know that the 2023 Monterey Jazz Festival will be my last as artistic director,” Jackson wrote in a letter to his constituents. “I feel that this a good time for a transition. The organization is stabilizing after the pandemic, the staff and board are strong and committed, and it is time for a new perspective on the artistic side to help guide the organization for the next generation.”
This year’s festival will mark Jackson’s 33rd year with the 66-year-old MJF organization.
“I feel grateful and blessed to have been a part of this historic festival, and proud of the role I have played in its continued success,” said Jackson, who has been producing and presenting jazz for five decades. “To be able to work with the world’s greatest musicians has been the joy of a lifetime.” 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.
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…
