Ken Peplowski, an unquestioned master of contemporary
mainstream jazz, has become synonymous with flawless virtuosity and teeming
imagination on both the clarinet and tenor saxophone. Yet his talents as a
shrewd bandleader and farsighted recording artist are heralded less often. On
Enrapture, Peplowski - in league with band mates Ehud Asherie on piano, Matt
Wilson on drums, and Martin Wind on bass - goes his own way as a leader,
allowing his resourcefulness and taste, rather than stylistic restrictions, to
be his guides.
Any recording that fruitfully makes use of the work of such
disparate composers as John Lennon, Duke Ellington, Noel Coward, Herbie
Nichols, Peter Erskine, Anthony Newley and Bernard Herrmann obviously isn't
adhering to any hard-and-fast rules about swinging mainstream jazz. The album
will be released February 16, 2016 on Capri Records.
Utilizing a working band comprised of players as equally
broadminded and adept at elegantly weaving amongst jazz styles as he is,
Peplowski places as much emphasis on varied repertoire as he does displays of
musical ability. These four virtuosi, blending seamlessly as a unified and
responsive ensemble, are also given plenty of room to display the skills that
have shored up each of their individual reputations.
What continues to draw the ear, apart from the high caliber
of the collective musicianship, is Peplowski's wide-ranging choice of
surprising and effective material. "The Flaming Sword," a rarely
recorded Ellington opus, provides a calypso-driven springboard for the leader's
bounding clarinet, while the Harry Warren standard, "An Affair To
Remember" offers up Peplowski's warm tenor draped in an easy swinging
arrangement. The ballads "Cheer Up, Charlie," a neglected heart
tugger from the Newley and Bricusse score for the 1971 film "Willy Wonka
& The Chocolate Factory," and "When October Goes" by Barry
Manilow and Johnny Mandel allow Peplowski to demonstrate his magic on tenor
saxophone. Coward's stately waltz "I'll Follow My Secret Heart," is
transformed into a low keyed yet gripping clarinet showcase; John Lennon and
Yoko Ono's plaintive "Oh My Love" receives a sparse and effecting
treatment as a clarinet and bass duet.
"Enrapture," composed but never recorded by the
bop era iconoclast Herbie Nichols, offers a sharp clarinet workout and fine
turns by Asherie and Wilson; Peter Erskine's "Twelve" (an ingenious
twelve- tone row based on Cole Porter's "Easy to Love"), presents an
equally brisk and bright tenor statement amid captivating collective interplay.
What may be the album's most eclectically left-of-center selection,
"Vertigo Scene D'Amour," is drawn from Bernard Herrmann's haunting
score for Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 opus, Vertigo. Peplowski's evocative clarinet
captures all the mystery and doom-laden romanticism of that cinematic
masterwork. Fats Waller's jaunty "Willow Tree," complete with
suitably effervescent clarinet work, also features a nifty arco solo from Wind
that contributes to the collective aplomb.
Enrapture is a vivid aural snapshot of a band ready and
eager to be documented. "A year or so of sifting through material, a year
or so of playing with these great musicians, and very little time in the
studio; we really wanted to approximate what we do in the clubs,"
Peplowski says. "This is us, in as close to a live setting as one could
ask for in a recording environment-every song in pretty much one take-we just
like to capture the spontaneity and interplay of four people who enjoy making
music together."
A native of Cleveland, Ken Peplowski has been playing
professionally as a clarinetist and saxophonist since his teenage years. In
addition to working with a diverse array of jazz luminaries and popular artists
that includes Benny Goodman, Bill Charlap, Rosemary Clooney, Mel Torme, Howard
Alden and George Shearing as well as Madonna, Woody Allen and Marianne
Faithfull, Peplowski has recorded over fifty albums as a leader or co-leader
and has participated on scores of recordings by other artists. According to
noted critic Will Friedwald, "Peplowski sounds the way (Benny) Goodman
might if he had kept evolving, kept on listening to new music, kept refining
his sound, polishing his craft, and expanding his musical purview into the 21st
century."
No comments:
Post a Comment