Jazz Icon Ken Peplowski Found Dead in Cabin After Missing Cruise Performance

Acclaimed jazz bandleader Ken Peplowski has tragically passed away just before he was scheduled to perform on a cruise already out at sea. The renowned clarinetist and saxophonist was a passenger on The Jazz Cruise, and his sudden death occurred yesterday, just hours before his performance.

Peplowski was slated to perform in the late afternoon with a quartet, but he never showed up. After a search, he was found dead inside his cabin. His death was announced before the big band’s main feature concert that evening, leaving the ballroom in stunned silence, with gasps of disbelief.

In a statement, Michael Lazaroff, executive director of the cruise, paid tribute to Peplowski, saying, “He was a great musician, but he was also one of the very best entertainers ever. I do not know any musician who respected the bandstand more than Ken. He was always prepared, loved performing with his fellow musicians, and, man, could he play!”

A friend and former editorial director at WBGO radio station shared that Ken had been “suffering from multiple myeloma” and had battled the often-fatal disease with “a unique combination of courage, fortitude, and humor.”

The Jazz Cruise is planning a more extensive remembrance, according to Lazaroff.

Ken Peplowski was 66.
RIP