The late Mel Torme´said, "Since the advent of Benny Goodman,there have been too few clarinetists to fill the void that Goodman left.

In 1980, Ken Peplowski  moved to New York City,and was soon playing in all kinds of settings, from traditional to avant-garde jazz. “Everything’s a learning experience in jazz music – there’s always an element of the unpredictable.” In 1984, Benny Goodman came out of retirement and put together a new band, hiring Ken on tenor saxophone.