Ken Peplowski: clarinet, tenor Saxophone; Ehud Asherie: piano; Martin Wind: bass; Matt Wilson: drums.

Throughout the listening of “Enrapture”, Ken Peplowski demonstrates all his versatility and confidence both on clarinet and tenor saxophone. He opens with the Dixieland colors of “The Flaming Sword”, a Duke Ellington composition, and finishes with “Willow Tree”, a traditional blues composed by Fats Waller. Thus, as you can imagine there’s a lot of mainstream jazz here, with some nice surprises in the middle.
Peplowski and his quartet stroll along sweet landscapes, showing a clear tendency to mellow tones with ballads directly connected to the movies such as “An Affair to Remember”; a love theme from Hitchcock’s “Vertigo”; “Cheer Up Charlie”, which was performed by Diana Sowie in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”; and “I’ll Follow My Secret Heart” composed by the eccentric Noel Coward for his musical “Conversation Piece” and played on sax with a tremulous vibrato.
It also includes a little piece from Lennon and Yoko called “Oh My Love” and “When October Goes”, a composition started by Johnny Mercer and finished by Barry Manilow who popularized it in the mid-80's. However, it was with Herbie Nichols’ “Enrapture”, where Wilson and Asherie shine individually, and Peter Erskine’s “Twelve”, a great tune replete of calls and responses, that Peplowski and his peers captivated me more due to the more enticing and adventurous nature of these compositions.

Favorite Tracks:
01 – The Flaming Sword ► 06 – Enrapture ► 07 – Twelve