Ken Peplowski 3

His memorial service

Last Tuesday evening, we celebrated Ken’s life at St. Peter’s Church here in New York City.

It was perfect.

So many times, these events can degenerate into talent shows that go on for forever, leaving the point of the exercise lost in an never-ending series of self-serving “remembrances” and sub-par music, all too often by people with a tenuous at best relationship with the deceased.

Thanks to the efforts of Ken’s long-time partner Pamela Stark (with assists from Ken’s close friends Mark Lopeman and David Ostwald), the memorial was one that even Ken (tough, unsentimental judge that he could be), would have approved of. It was the event equal of a great Ken solo.

Is it cliched to say that there were laughter and tears?, yes; but it’s true.

People came from far and wide to remember their friend and/or a musical giant (that’s Ken’s close friend Catherine Russell in front of me)

YouTube has the memorial here:

Ken's service

P.S. One more thing - I, like many of my generation, have a long history with jazz memorials at St. Peter’s. Father John Gensel set the mold by making them serious yet humorous at times, with a respect for the profession, and love for those who lived in and around it. One thing that even John couldn’t surmount, though, was the dismal acoustics of the space. Many of us stopped attending after he departed, making exceptions to remember close friends; that was a shame, as the rare opportunity to see a phalanx of our peers was so rare and so much needed.

All of this is to underline the amazing improvement in everything at St. Peter’s - they’ve dealt with the acoustic issue superbly, and also assist with an in-house support team. They continue a great legacy of service to our community.