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Ken Peplowski: Unheard Bird

By Jack Bowers
September 3, 2024
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Even when the recording (in this case, two) is a classic—as, for example,

Charlie Parker

saxophone, alto
1920 - 1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Parker's memorable Bird with Strings (Mercury Records, 1950)—some songs that deserve better are necessarily left on the cutting-room floor. Some may see that as disappointing, while others—like reed specialist

Ken Peplowski

woodwinds
b.1959

" data-original-title="" title="">Ken Peplowski—embrace it as an opportunity. On Unheard Bird, Peplowski—with strings and a core quartet—presents a series of fourteen generally likable themes, most of which were destined for Parker's album but were somehow passed over, and three others that can be heard only in hard-to-find bootleg recordings.

There are some notable departures. While Parker was the lone soloist on Bird with Strings, Peplowski (who, unlike Bird, plays tenor sax or clarinet) shares those duties with trumpeter

Terell Stafford

trumpet
b.1966

" data-original-title="" title="">Terell Stafford and pianist

Glenn Zaleski

piano
b.1987

" data-original-title="" title="">Glenn Zaleski, and whereas Parker played only standards from the Great American Songbook, Peplowski leads with compositions by

Gerry Mulligan

saxophone, baritone
1927 - 1996

" data-original-title="" title="">Gerry Mulligan ("Gold Rush") and

George Russell

composer / conductor
1923 - 2009

" data-original-title="" title="">George Russell ("Ezz-Thetic") and also enfolds

Earl Hines

piano
1903 - 1983

" data-original-title="" title="">Earl Hines' never-recorded "When I Dream of You,"

Mercer Ellington

trumpet
1919 - 1996

" data-original-title="" title="">Mercer Ellington's "Moon Mist" and

Neal Hefti

trumpet
1922 - 2008

" data-original-title="" title="">Neal Hefti's "Repetition." The finale, "You Must Believe in Spring," is a standard in its own right but not from the GAS, as it was written by Jacques Demy and

Michel Legrand

piano
1932 - 2019

" data-original-title="" title="">Michel Legrand many years after Parker died in 1955.

"Gold Rush" and "Ezz-Thetic" are strange choices to lead the way, for at least two reasons: first, they are jazz compositions that do not readily lend themselves to string backing; and second, they serve only to amplify the excellence of writers such as Jerome Kern, the Gershwin brothers, Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Green and J. Fred Coots whose compositions are among those that follow. Peplowski does include one song recorded on Bird with Strings, the Gershwins' "Summertime" from the folk opera Porgy and Bess. Peplowski's rhythm section—bassist

Peter Washington

bass
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Peter Washington, drummer

Willie Jones III

drums
b.1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Willie Jones III—share the spotlight on "Love Walked In," soloing smartly and trading eights and fours, while Stafford is the main man on "Ezz-Thetic," "Gone with the Wind" (with Zaleski) and "Stardust."

On the one hand, Unheard Bird is by and large pretty good, with a number of pleasurable moments; on the other, it falls considerably short of emulating a classic—perhaps a healthy albeit implausible dose of Bird himself would have helped—and in fact leaves a definite impression that it is appreciably less than it could have been. More strings? Less strings? More tasteful arrangements? Better sonic balance? It is really hard to say. What can be noted is that even though everyone plays well enough, the sum of their efforts is seldom persuasive. As noted, an above-average session that could—and arguably should—have been better.

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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.

Personnel

Ken Peplowski

woodwinds

Terell Stafford

trumpet

Glenn Zaleski

piano

Peter Washington

bass

Willie Jones III

drums

Album information

Title: Unheard Bird | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Arbors Records

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