Ken Peplowski with Danny Sample will present a duo jazz concert benefiting volunteers in Medicine Clinic on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. at New Monumental Baptist Church. The concert is underwritten by Nancy & Ken Dryden and Patten & Patten, Inc.
Bio on Ken Peplowski:
A native of Cleveland, Oh., Ken Peplowski was already experimenting with jazz in his early teens, playing in the school stage bands and also by jamming with many of the local jazz musicians. "By the time I hit high school, I was teaching at the local music store, playing in our family band, and playing jazz gigs around town while still getting up early every day for school."
After a year of college, Ken joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra under the direction of Buddy Morrow.
In 1980, Ken moved to New York City and was soon playing in a variety of settings, from Dixieland to avant-garde jazz. "Everything's a learning experience in jazz music - there's always an element of the unpredictable." In 1984, Benny Goodman came out of retirement and put together a new band, hiring Ken on tenor saxophone. Peplowski wound up signing with Concord Records, under the tutelage of Carl Jefferson, the founder and president, and recorded extensively for the label and his discography as a leader or co-leader now numbers over forty CDs made for a variety of labels, including releases made for Europe and Japan.
Ken refuses to predict where jazz is headed: ”What's in the future? "Who knows? I love all kinds of music, and I'd like to find more opportunities to bridge the gaps between different musical styles - I consider myself an interpreter of material - if something interests me, I try to put my own spin on it, without thinking or worrying about playing in any particular style. Basically, I like a challenge, I'm a sucker for a good melody, and I love playing for audiences, big or small."
And he has certainly achieved these goals, be it in small clubs, the Hollywood Bowl, headlining in Las Vegas, the Newport Jazz Festival, pops concerts, European festivals ´ clubs, or at home in NYC doing everything from playing on the soundtracks to Woody Allen movies, to taking on the role of music director for interactive French and Italian cookbooks.
The litany of musicians Ken has collaborated with includes Mel Tormé, Charlie Byrd, Peggy Lee, George Shearing, Hank Jones, Dave Frishberg, Rosemary Clooney, Tom Harrell, James Moody, Cedar Walton, Houston Person, Steve Allen, Woody Allen, and Erich Kunzel, among many others.
This is not Ken Peplowski’s first Chattanooga concert, he was a headliner during a 1993 Nightfall show, accompanied by none other than pianist Danny Sample’s Trio.
Bio of Danny Sample:
Danny Sample was born in Memphis, took up piano at an early age, and was performing R&B and jazz by age 10. Before graduating from college with a degree in mechanical engineering, he had toured with Isaac Hayes, Dionne Warwick, and opened for Grover Washington and B. B. King. Since then, Sample has shared the bandstand in the Chattanooga area and around the country at various clubs, colleges, private engagements and festivals such as the Oregon Mount Hood Jazz Festival, the Hill City Jazz Festival, Birmingham City Stages, Memphis in May, the Riverbend Festival, Nightfall Concert Series, and the grand opening of the Bessie Smith Hall, when his group opened for Koko Taylor.