Jazz clarinetist and saxophone player Ken Peplowski died Sunday, Feb. 1 while performing on a jazz cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. He was 66.
Ken Peplowski Peplowski was well-known in the Oregon jazz scene and served as music director for the Oregon Coast Jazz Party in Newport. He was also a director for the Oregon Festival of American Music in Eugene from 2007 through 2014.
“Ken Peplowski was a virtuoso jazz clarinetist whose music moved audiences worldwide. I first met Ken when he was the musical director of the Oregon Festival of American Music,” said Carl Woideck, jazz musician, scholar, and host of KLCC’s The Soul of Jazz. “When we had coffee, we talked about the Beatles and Bob Dylan as much as about jazz. Whether playing at the Oregon Coast Jazz party last October, or in at New York’s Birdland this past December, he gave his all in every setting.”
No cause of death has been released at this time, but Peplowski was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2021.
Peplowski was on board the Celebrity Summit as part of a seven-day Jazz Cruise sailing in the Gulf of Mexico. The experience brings nearly 100 musicians together to perform over 200 hours of music in varying configurations, according to the cruise’s website.
- KLCC News
