Making a record is, for me at least, never a casual affair. It involves a long, almost year-long process of finding songs that are new to me, revisiting some ‘old friends’, calling up some favors from my composing colleagues and throwing in some last-minute surprises. (Ken Peplowski In numerous rave reviews, critics have exalted Ken Peplowski as the epitome of jazz traditionalism. But repeated listenings of his work reveals that Peplowski is perhaps more experimental and diverse than some have described him. It is worth noting that while Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and Ben Webster are strong inspirations, Ken has also recorded songs by Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane and even The Beatles. "A lot of jazz musicians are strangely conservative in their tastes," Peplowski says. "They'll tell you, 'I only listen to jazz recorded before 1960, and I never listen to rock.' But to me, that's such a loss. You're depriving yourself of so much. And I don't want to deprive myself. I want to be honest with myself and at the same time, continue to throw myself into unfamiliar, challenging situations." In the 2003 Down Beat Readers Poll 2003 Ken Peplowski won at # 3 clarinet. "It's Easy To Remember" has always been one of my favorite songs – a perfect marriage of lyrics and melody, and sung by a man who understands both (probably more than any other living male singer) -Bobby Short. I have had the good fortune to work with Bobby quite often in recent years, and he surprised me one night at the Café Carlyle by asking me to join him on a rendition of "It's Easy To Remember" very much like the one you're listening to on this record, as this is only the second time we've performed it together - I've been waiting for this moment to put it onto CD, so we've purposely not performed, or even rehearsed it, in the interim. Thanks, Bobby, for your gracious presence in the studio - you are the best friend a song ever had! (Ken Peplowski, NYC Feb. 20, 2004) Featuring Ken Peplowski (clarinet, tenor sax), Joe Cohn (guitar), Ted Rosenthal (piano), Joe Fitzgerald (bass), Jeff Brillinger (drums) Special Guests: Bobby Short (vocals, piano). Kim Liggett (vocals) 13 Tracks. Recorded on October 27, 2003 at Nola Recording Studios, New York, by Jim Czak.