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 Vijay Iyer and alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa are releasing their new disc, Raw Materials (Savoy Jazz), on May 23.
Iyer and Mahanthappa have been musical collaborators since Steve Coleman introduced them to each other in 1995.
“We both know immediately that we had made a connection,” Iyer and Mahanthappa write in the disc’s liner notes. “Two like-minded South Asian American musicians at parallel stages in our lives and at a similar crossroads of creative traditions.”
Along with drawing on Indian musical themes, Raw Materials uses European and African sources for the duo’s harmonically advanced jazz compositions.
“This duo setting allowed our collaborations to flourish and evolve into something truly unforseen,” according to Iyer and Mahanthappa.
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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Marsalis will, if he chooses to use it, have a strong voice in perpetuating his vision through a role in choosing his successors.
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