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VARIETY LIVE AT THE OPERA HOUSE PRESENTS: A 75TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE TO BENNY GOODMAN Show Will Recreate the Historic 1938 Carnegie Hall Performance
LEXINGTON, KY (September 5, 2013) – Variety Live presents a 75th Anniversary Tribute to Benny Goodman featuring New York City clarinetist Ken Peplowski and the Capitol Center Jazz Orchestra (CCJO) on September 25th for one performance only at the Lexington Opera House. Local jazz group, the Bluegrass Area Jazz Ambassadors (BAJA) will open the show at 7:00 p.m. Tickets start at just $25 and are on sale now at the Lexington Center Ticket Ofce, (859) 233-3535 or Ticketmaster.com. Benny Goodman’s 1938 show at Carnegie Hall in New York has been billed as the world’s most famous jazz concert, a groundbreaking event that brought jazz into the mainstream. The concert featured such swing icons as Lionel Hampton, Harry James, Gene Krupa, Count Basie, Lester Young and Johnny Hodges and included such timeless jazz classics as “Don’t Be That Way,” “Avalon,” and the iconic swing performance of “Sing, Sing, Sing.” In tribute to this historic moment in American music and culture, Ken Peplowski, described by The New York Times as “Goodman Straight Up, With A Twist of Lightning,” joins the CCJO to pay tribute to the Goodman, the King of Swing, and his seminal Carnegie Hall performance. With 25 albums to his name, Ken Peplowski, an (More) alumni of the Benny Goodman Orchestra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, is regarded as one of the premier clarinetists in the world of jazz. While in elementary school, Mr. Peplowski had his first professional gig and hasn’t looked backed since. Over the course of his career, Mr. Peplowski has appeared in clubs and festivals throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia, including the Newport Jazz Festival and New York’s historic Blue Note. Mr. Peplowski has collaborated with a wide variety of musicians, including Mel Torme, Leon Redbone, Charlie Byrd, Peggy Lee, George Shearing, Madonna, Hank Jones, Rosemary Clooney and Steve Allen. The 15 CCJO members backing Mr. Peplowski are among the premier jazz musicians playing in the Northeast, having previously performed with the Buddy Rich Orchestra, Stan Kenton, and Artie Shaw prior to being hand picked by the CCJO music director, Clayton “Skip” Poole. For more information, visit lexingtonoperahouse.com.
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