Ken Peplowski

Born: May 23, 1959

“When you grow up in Cleveland, Ohio, playing in a Polish polka band, you learn to think fast on your feet”, says Ken Peplowski, who played his first pro engagement when he was still in elementary school. “From my first time performing in public, I knew I wanted to play music for a living.”

Ken, and his trumpet-playing brother Ted, made many local radio and TV appearances and played for Polish dances and weddings virtually every weekend all through high-school. “That’s where I learned to improvise, ‘fake’ songs, learn about chord changes, etc.- it’s exactly like learning to swim by being thrown into the water!”

New Jazz Standards, Volume 7

By Marina Pacowski

Label: Summit Records
Released: 2025
Track listing: August in New York; High on Blueberry Pie; Theme for Jobim; Feels Like Home; Is That Asking Too Much?; Looking at You; I Need a Dream; Sweet Talk; You��re So Cute; Do Be Do Be Do; Alone; Can You Dig Being Dug?; Always in My Heart; Minute Waltz.

Terry Callier, Tobias Meinhart, and The Thing

by Jerome Wilson
August 6, 2025

This episode features jazz hybrids by Terry Callier, Tone Forest, and The Thing as well as purer genre sounds from the likes of Melissa Aldana, Tobias Meinhart, and Mose Allison. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) ...

Ornette Coleman's and Horace Silver's "Lonely Woman" �� A Disambiguation

by Artur Moral
July 27, 2025

Reality is filled with confusion and misunderstandings; some are suggestive or creative, while others are disappointing or, worse, malicious. The jazz world is no stranger to the first type: specific compositions are often confused or misidentified as if they were the same. Usually, this happens because of similar melodies or titles that are sometimes identical. This ...

Marina Pacowski: New Jazz Standards, Volume 7

by Jack Bowers
June 6, 2025

To those who know--really know--their breathtaking jazz trumpeters, Carl Saunders was definitely in a class by himself. Simply put, there was nothing Saunders could not do on the horn, from nailing seemingly insurmountable high notes to creating intricate and mind- blowing solos, all the while making it seem so effortless that many listeners thought he must ...

Dreamweavers: Woven In Time

by Neil Duggan
March 26, 2025

The group Dreamweavers is the vision of two guitarists, one who acts as the lead player and the other who predominantly acts as producer, also adding lap steel guitar and mandocello (the baritone member of the mandolin family) to the musical mix. Woven In Time is their first release and the result of their ongoing collaboration. ...

The Attucks Jazz Club: Fall 2024

by Mark Robbins
February 23, 2025

In 2008, under the auspices of the Virginia Arts Festival and the leadership of professor/pianist John Toomey, the Attucks Jazz Series was born in the historic Attucks Theater. Before becoming a full-time jazz professor at Old Dominion University, Toomey spent time on the road with jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson, singers Mark Murphy, Rene Marie, and others. ...

Barbara Carroll Centennial, Judy Wexler, Jenny Hill, Judy Wexler, Lisa Markley, Nancy Harrow

by Mary Foster Conklin
February 3, 2025

This broadcast includes new releases from Judy Wexler, Jenny Hill, Lisa Markley and Nancy Harrow, with birthday shoutouts to Barbara Carroll (100!), Etta James, Michelle Nicolle, Gary Burton, Jose James, Mariah Parker, and Lizz Wright, among others. Happy listening and please support the artists you hear. See them live, purchase their music so they can continue ...

Unheard Bird

By Ken Peplowski

Label: Arbors Records
Released: 2024
Track listing: Gold Rush; Ezz-Thetic; I Cover the Waterfront; Gone with the Wind; Summertime; Love Walked In; When I Dream of You; Moon Mist; They Didn��t Believe Me; You Go to My Head; Yesterdays; Stardust; Repetition; You Must Believe in Spring.

Live at Mezzrow

By Ken Peplowski

Label: Cellar Music Group
Released: 2024
Track listing: Vignette; Prisoner of Love; Beautiful Love; All the Things You Are; Like Young; The Shadow of Your Smile; Cabin in the Sky; Bright Mississippi; Here��s to Life; Who Knows.