The brilliant clarinetist and tenor-saxophonist Ken Peplowski has largely overcome (or at least learned to live with) some very serious health problems to resume his important career. His playing throughout the recent Live At Mezzrow is so strong that, if a comeback of the year award were given out to jazz musicians, he would be a major contender.
For Live At Mezzrow, which was recorded on Feb. 5, 2023, Peplowski performs in a quartet with pianist Ted Rosenthal, bassist Martin Wind, and drummer Willie Jones III. While Peplowski’s playing cannot be confined to swing or early jazz and his rhythm section has often been heard in more modern settings, the music on this set primarily falls into the area of forward-looking small-group swing. Peplowski, who splits his time between tenor and clarinet, performs a wide ranging set of sometimes surprising material.
Along the way he plays such numbers as Hank Jones’ “Vignette” (which utilizes the chord changes of “Sweet Sue”), a ballad version of “All The Things You Are,” Andre Previn’s “Like Young,” “The Shadow Of Your Smile,” “Cabin In The Sky,” Thelonious Monk’s “Bright Mississippi” (a disguised “Sweet Georgia Brown”), and Duke Ellington’s “Who Knows.” The rhythm section swings throughout and gives Peplowski a perfectly suitable solid foundation for him to fly over.
Suffice it to say that Ken Pep
