Press archive
What was written and broadcast about Harry Pepl: reviews, portraits, interviews and obituaries, with summary and source. The originals are protected by copyright and kept in the archive; we provide them to researchers and the press on request.
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26 March 1975 · Other · DE
Burgenländische Freiheit (p. 42, ANNO-Seite): Jazzkonzert des Erich-Kleinschuster-Sextetts in Eisenstadt
Photo caption to the announcement of a jazz concert on 7 April 1975 at the Pädagogische Akademie Eisenstadt, organised by the Musical Youth of Austria and ORF Studio Burgenland (ORF: Austria's public broadcaster).
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The Erich Kleinschuster Sextet plays with Harald Pepl on guitar; the ORF records the concert for the Ö3 (the ORF's pop radio channel) series “Jazz mit Erich Kleinschuster”. The form “Harald Pepl” matches his baptismal name.
Harald Pepl (guitar)
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1 December 1976 · Other · DE
Burgenländische Freiheit (gedruckte p. 44, ANNO-p. 36): „Damaskus: Neue Besetzung ab Jänner“ (Beat und Pop)
Note from the “Beat und Pop” page about a Burgenland band with a new line-up. Pepl appears only as a teacher: the guitarist Otto Artner is described as his student.
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Großpetersdorf guitarist and Harry Pepl student Otto Artner
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5 January 1977 · Other · DE
Burgenländische Freiheit (gedruckte p. 32, ANNO-p. 24): Konzertankündigung Erich-Kleinschuster-Sextett (Beat und Pop)
Announcement of a jazz concert by the Erich Kleinschuster Sextet in Burgenland, starting at 8 pm.
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The line-up is given as Erich Kleinschuster, Christof Lauer, Harry Pepl (guitar), Fritz Pauer, Heinz Jäger and Fritz Ozmec; the text adds that the group was completed by Fritz Pauer (piano) and Harry Pepl.
The group is completed by Fritz Pauer (p) and Harry Pepl (g).
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2 March 1977 · Other · DE
Burgenländische Freiheit (gedruckte p. 42, ANNO-p. 34): „5. März: Erich-Kleinschuster-Sextett in der Jazzgalerie“
Announcement of a concert by the Erich Kleinschuster Sextet on 5 March 1977 at Hans Falb’s Jazzgalerie in Nickelsdorf. The line-up names Kleinschuster (trombone), Christof Lauer, Harry Pepl (guitar), Fritz Pauer, Heinz Jäger and Fritz Ozmec.
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9 March 1977 · Other · DE
Burgenländische Freiheit (gedruckte p. 42, ANNO-p. 34): „Dick Sells mit neuer Gruppe“ (Beat und Pop)
News item about a new group of the guitarist and harmonica player Dick Sells, a new Burgenlander, who was formerly with Milestone and Hedgehodge.
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Peter Ponger, Harry Pepl and the drummer Janis Dudli play with him; Pepl, it says, is already known to visitors of the jazz pub.
also no stranger to the visitors of the jazz pub
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10 August 1977 · Other · DE
Burgenländische Freiheit (gedruckte p. 35, ANNO-p. 27): „Neues kurz“ (Beat und Pop)
Contemporary note from August 1977: Pepl, it says, is leaving the ORF Big Band (ORF: Austria's public broadcaster) and moving to Graz, where he is to receive a teaching appointment at the jazz department of the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz.
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The guitarist Olaf Weitzer is being discussed as his successor in the band; most recently Pepl could be heard with his jazz-rock group “Hedgehog” at the three-day festival in Kohfidisch.
will leave the ORF Big Band and move to Graz, where he will get a teaching appointment at the jazz department of the MHS
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7 October 1977 · Other · DE
steirischer herbst, festival archive (online): „Marianne Mendt“, Konzert am 7. Oktober 1977
Entry in the archive of the steirischer herbst festival on the concert by Marianne Mendt on Friday, 7 October 1977, in the festival hall of the Arbeiterkammer (Chamber of Labour) in Deutschlandsberg (Styria, Austria), organised by the Kulturkreis Deutschlandsberg, with Harald Neuwirth (piano), “Harald Pepl (guitar)”, Wayne Darling (bass) and Erich Bachträgl (drums).
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14 February 1979 · Other · DE
Burgenländische Freiheit (gedruckte p. 36, ANNO-p. 28): „Konzerttermine“ (Beat und Pop)
Concert notice for an evening on 14 February 1979 in Vienna with the Dutch guitarist Harry Sacksioni.
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The opening act is provided by Harry Pepl and Werner Pirchner; the text recalls Pirchner’s album “Ein halbes Doppelalbum” and the fact that Pepl had already been a guest in Wiesen.
The opening act is provided by two well-known Austrians
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3 May 1979 · Other · DE
Burgenländische Freiheit (gedruckte p. 44, ANNO-p. 36): Ankündigung eines Konzerts mit Friedrich Gulda (Beat und Pop)
Short news item about a „Konzert der Superlative“ [“concert of superlatives”] with Friedrich Gulda on piano and the two former ORF Big Band (ORF: Austria's public broadcaster) musicians Wayne Darling (bass) and Harry Pepl (guitar).
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It is announced for early May 1979 at the Münzgrabenheim in Graz.
A concert of superlatives, with Friedrich Gulda on piano
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27 June 1979 · Other · DE
Burgenländische Freiheit (gedruckte p. 48, ANNO-p. 40): „Art Orchester“ in Nickelsdorf
Announcement of the appearance of the “Wiener Art Orchester” (Vienna Art Orchestra) on Saturday, 30 June 1979, at the Jazz-Galerie Nickelsdorf.
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Werner Pirchner (vibraphone) and Harry Pepl (guitar) appear as guest soloists; the text describes the orchestra, founded in 1977, and its participants.
Werner Pirchner (vibes) and Harry Pepl (gtr) appear as guest soloists.
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18 July 1979 · Other · DE
Burgenländische Freiheit (gedruckte p. 35, ANNO-p. 27): „Jazz International: Am Wochenende Superfestival in Wiesen!“
Programme preview of the jazz festival in Wiesen, Burgenland, in July 1979. Among the bands announced is the Erich Kleinschuster Sextet with Kleinschuster, Karl Drewo, Harry Pepl (guitar), Harald Neuwirth and Heinz Jäger.
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7 September 1979 · Other · HU
Hajdú-Bihari Napló (Tageszeitung des Komitats Hajdú-Bihar, Debrecen, Hungary): Nr. 209: „Debreceni dzsessznapok. Mai program“ (Tagesprogramm der Debrecener Jazztage)
On Friday, 7 September 1979, the Debrecen daily newspaper announces the day’s programme of the 8th Debrecen Jazz Days in Hungary: at midnight the “Austrian-Yugoslav guitar duo” Harry Pepl and Voja Brkvic plays in the Bartók Hall, followed by the pianist Gusztáv Csík (p. 2). The programme of the Kölcsey Ferenc cultural centre on p. 8 lists the same evening with the spelling “Voja Brkovity” and an admission price of 30 forints.
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In the Bartók Hall at midnight the Austrian-Yugoslav guitar duo Harry Pepl and Voja Brkvic gives a concert, followed by Gusztáv Csík.
Day programme of the 8th Debrecen Jazz Days (Hungary) in the Debrecen daily “Hajdú-Bihari Napló” of Friday, 7 September 1979; the duo played at midnight, that is, in the night to Saturday
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15 November 1980 · Other · DE
Brief aus Bangkok: „Benny Goodman war nach dem 2. Konzert voll des Lobes“: Brief an Harry Pepl nach den Berliner Goodman-Konzerten
Kurt A. Müller
Typewritten letter from Bangkok to Harry Pepl in Hernstein, a week after the concerts with Benny Goodman at the Berlin Philharmonie (7 and 8 November 1980).
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According to the family archive, the sender was Goodman's manager Kurt A. Müller, the Swiss friend of Goodman living in Bangkok who co-organised the concerts, chose the musicians in Europe and made the recordings. He reports that Goodman was full of praise after the second concert; during Pepl's solo at the start of the second concert Goodman got going as he had not done for years, and the whole quintet jammed as in Goodman's early years. Goodman's only regret was that Pepl did not play an acoustic guitar. Full text (translated from the German, address omitted): “Mr Harry Pepl, [address], 2560 Hernstein, Lower Austria. 15 November 1980. Dear Mr Pepl, My wife and I have now arrived safely back in Bangkok and still think back often and fondly to the swinging days in Berlin. After the second concert Benny Goodman was full of praise for you and your colleagues. I myself was also glad that everything went so well, because whoever plays with Benny Goodman has to be good, otherwise things can get uncomfortable, since Benny is an absolute perfectionist and demands a great deal of perfection from his musicians too. When you took off with your solo at the start of the second concert, Benny really got going, in a way I had not seen him for many years; Charly, Peter and Don Haas swung along and the whole quintet ‘jammed’ as was only the case in Benny Goodman's early years. He confirmed this to me afterwards too and was in the best of moods. The only thing he regretted was that you did not have a natural guitar, because he would have liked that even better, he said, but it was fine as it was. So once again many thanks for your fine contribution, it was truly a delight for all of us, and the audience went wild, as you can hear again on the tape recordings. The photos are being copied and I will send them to you in a few days. I would be glad to hear from you soon; perhaps you could send me a tape on which you play swinging music, I would then copy it for Benny, if you allow. Warm regards, also from my wife, and all the best. Yours, [signature]”
After the second concert Benny Goodman was full of praise for you and your colleagues.
When you took off with your solo at the start of the second concert, Benny really got going, in a way I had not seen him for many years
Letter from Kurt A. Müller, manager of Benny Goodman, the “King of Swing”, after the second concert at the Berlin Philharmonie in November 1980
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October 1981 · Other · DE
Sounds (music magazine, Hamburg): „Jazz Fest 81 Berlin“ (Anzeige der Berliner Festspiele, Heft 10/1981, S. 64)
In issue 10 (October 1981) of Sounds, the Hamburg music magazine (1966 to 1983, at first focused on free jazz), the Berliner Festspiele announce the Jazz Fest Berlin of 5 to 8 November 1981 in an advertisement on p. 64. For the Metropol they list “Pirchner-Pepl Jazzzwio/ Defunkt” on Friday, 6 November, at 11 pm; on the other evenings Volker Kriegel, the John Scofield Trio, Michael Gregory Jackson and James “Blood” Ulmer play there. It is an announcement, not a concert report.
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17 October 1981 · Other · DE
Donaueschinger Musiktage, festival archive (online): „SWF-Jazz-Session“ (Donaueschinger Musiktage 1981)
The archive of the Donaueschingen Music Days at SWR, one of the oldest festivals of contemporary music (since 1921), lists for Saturday, 17 October 1981, 8.30 pm, in the Donauhalle (hall B) the SWF Jazz Session with “Jonny tritt ab, keine Jazz-Oper für Stimmen und Instrumente in zwei Teilen” (Jonny Exits, no jazz opera for voices and instruments in two parts) by Mathias Rüegg, who also conducted. The performers were the Vienna Art Orchestra and the Stadtkapelle Radolfzell, a town band, with the singers Karin Krog, Lauren Newton and Maggie Nicols, the saxophonist John Surman and Harry Pepl (guitar); the producer was Joachim-Ernst Berendt, jazz editor of Südwestfunk (SWF), the public broadcaster for south-western Germany. For Pepl the archive lists only this evening.
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6 November 1981 · Other · DE
Rockpalast-Archiv (private fan archive, online): „PIRCHNER-PEPL JAZZZWIO - Metropol Berlin 06.11.1981“
The Rockpalast archive, a privately run fan archive on Rockpalast, the music programme of WDR television (West German Broadcasting), and not a WDR site, lists the Jazzzwio of Werner Pirchner (vibraphone, marimba) and Harry Pepl (guitar) at the Jazz Fest Berlin at the Metropol on Friday, 6 November 1981, with the set list of eight pieces and their durations, around 85 minutes in all: “Berlin '81 Die Erste”, “Gegenwind”, “Homesick”, “Der Tag An Dem Wir Erfuhren, Dass Paul Desmond Gestorben War”, “Drein Sein Beieinader Bleiben”, “Germ In A”, “Raga Nr. 3” and “White Smoke”. In the archive’s production list the evening appears among further Rockpalast recordings at the Metropol from 3 to 8 November 1981, including U2, John Scofield and James Blood Ulmer. The page does not say whether the recording was broadcast or survives.
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26 October 1982 · Other · SL
Delo (Slovenian daily newspaper, Ljubljana): Nr. 250: Mitteilung des ŠKUC in der Rubrik „Obvestila“
Notice from ŠKUC, the Student Cultural Centre in Ljubljana (Stari trg 21), in the “Obvestila” (notices) column: together with the Austrian Cultural Institute in Zagreb it invites the public to a concert by the jazz duo of Pirchner and Pepl, “Jazz Zwio” (as printed), on Wednesday, 27 October 1982, at 7 pm, with Harry Pepl on electric and acoustic guitar and Werner Pirchner (printed “Perchner”) on tenor vibraphone and marimba. The same notice appeared again on the day of the concert (no. 251, p. 11).
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concert by the jazz duo Pirchner, Pepl, Jazz Zwio (line-up: Harry Pepl, electric and acoustic guitar; Werner Perchner, tenor vibraphone and marimba)
Notice from ŠKUC, the Student Cultural Centre in Ljubljana, in the Slovenian daily “Delo” of Tuesday, 26 October 1982, about the Jazzzwio concert the following evening in Ljubljana, organised together with the Austrian Cultural Institute in Zagreb; “Perchner” is a misprint in the newspaper for Werner Pirchner
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30 October 1982 · Other · DE
steirischer herbst, festival archive (online): „Weltmusikfest der IGNM“, Abend „Jazz Club / Jazz Band Ball“
Entry in the archive of the steirischer herbst festival on the World Music Days of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) 1982 in Graz, Austria: on Saturday, 30 October 1982, at 10 pm the Steirische Herbst Band ’82 under Erich Kleinschuster plays in the Saal Steiermark of the Congress, with Harry Pepl among the 30 musicians named, in the same slot as the Vienna Art Orchestra under Mathias Rüegg; further dates of the band until Thursday, 4 November 1982, in the exhibition hall of the Congress.
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11 June 1984 · Other · DE
moers festival, festival archive (online): Archiv 1980 bis 1989: 11. Juni 1984, Eissporthalle
For the festival from Friday 8 to Whit Monday 11 June 1984, the online archive of the moers festival (international festival for jazz and improvised music in Moers, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) lists “Airmail (AUT)” on the last day in the ice rink hall, with Wolfgang Puschnig, Karl “Bumi” Fian, Mike Richmond and Wolfgang Reisinger, on the same evening as Pension Winnetou, Yoshiaki Fujikawa & Eastasia Orchestra and the 29th Street Saxophone Quartet. Pepl is not listed in this line-up; according to Nikolaus Kohler he played.
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23 September 1984 · Other · DE
steirischer herbst, festival archive (online): „Michel Portal Unit featuring Harry Pepl“
Entry in the archive of the steirischer herbst festival on the guest performance on Sunday, 23 September 1984, in the former slaughterhouse in Graz, Austria, in the “Falso Loco” series, with Daniel Humair, Jean-François Jenny-Clark, Joachim Kühn, George Lewis, Harry Pepl and Michel Portal.
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April 1985 · Other
DownBeat (US-Jazzzeitschrift, gegründet 1934): „European ECM“: Werner Pirchner, Harry Pepl, Jack DeJohnette (ganzseitige Vorstellung, Heft April 1985, Vol. 52, Nr. 4)
DownBeat, the leading US jazz magazine (founded in Chicago in 1934), presented the ECM album by Werner Pirchner, the Austrian composer and vibraphonist, Harry Pepl and Jack DeJohnette (ECM 1237) on a full page, p. 11, of its April 1985 issue, with a picture of the cover: “Austrians Pirchner and Pepl join with drummer Jack DeJohnette to create a highly original and accessible trio sound.” It highlights the electronic effects of Pepl’s Ovation guitar blending with Pirchner’s vibraphone and marimba. The album was presented in the “European ECM” series of the New York import distributor PolyGram Special Imports, together with four other albums from the renowned European jazz label ECM. According to the masthead, the issue went on sale on Friday, 15 March 1985.
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Austrians Pirchner and Pepl join with drummer Jack DeJohnette to create a highly original and accessible trio sound.
From the full-page presentation of the ECM album in DownBeat, April 1985, in the “European ECM” series of the US distributor PolyGram Special Imports
PolyGram Special Imports, European ECM
The electronic effects of Pepl’s ovation guitar blend with Pirchner’s tenor vibes and marimba to form a rich overlay
From the full-page presentation of the ECM album in DownBeat, April 1985, in the “European ECM” series of the US distributor PolyGram Special Imports
PolyGram Special Imports, European ECM
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17 October 1985 · Other · DE
steirischer herbst, festival archive (online): „Daniel Humair, Harry Pepl, Jean-François Jenny-Clark: Konzert“
Entry in the archive of the steirischer herbst festival on a concert and exhibition on Thursday, 17 October 1985, at the Katholisches Studentenhaus Münzgraben in Graz, Austria: the trio Daniel Humair, Harry Pepl, Jean-François Jenny-Clark and the exhibition “Daniel Humair: Malerei und Grafik” (painting and graphic art).
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23 October 1985 · Other · DE
steirischer herbst, festival archive (online): „Martin Wiederhofer Trio / Jazzzwio Pirchner Pepl“, Mürztaler Werkstatt Jazz
Entry in the archive of the steirischer herbst festival on the double concert on Wednesday, 23 October 1985, at the Gasthof Prettenthaler in Kindberg (Styria, Austria), in the “Mürztaler Werkstatt” series: Martin Wiederhofer Trio and Jazzzwio.
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It names Harry Pepl, Werner Pirchner, Robert Riegler, Walter Schmocker, Heimo Wiederhofer and Martin Wiederhofer, without assigning them to either group.
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24 October 1985 · Other · DE
steirischer herbst, festival archive (online): „Jazzzwio Werner Pirchner / Harry Pepl & Gast“, Open Spoons Konzert
Entry in the archive of the steirischer herbst festival on the performance of the Jazzzwio with a guest on Thursday, 24 October 1985, at the Katholisches Studentenhaus Münzgraben in Graz, Austria, in the “Open Spoons” series.
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Only Werner Pirchner and Harry Pepl are named; the guest remains unnamed.
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7 March 1986 · Other · FR
Banlieues Bleues, festival archive (online): Konzert des 3. Festivals: Portal, DeJohnette, Cinelu, Jenny-Clark, Pepl
Entry in the online archive of Banlieues Bleues, the jazz festival in the Seine-Saint-Denis département near Paris (France), for the concert on Friday, 7 March 1986, at the Salle des fêtes in Montreuil: Michel Portal (reeds), Jack DeJohnette (drums), Mino Cinelu (percussion), Jean-François Jenny-Clark (double bass) and Harry Pepl (guitar). The archive confirms that Cinelu also played in the concert, not only at the rehearsals. Between 1984 and 1990 it is the only evening with Pepl in the festival's archive.
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26 September 1986 · Other
Bizim Caz, Datenbank des Jazz in der Türkei (online): „Air Mail“, Şan Tiyatrosu, 2. Bilsak Caz Festivali
Database entry on the Air Mail concert on Friday, 26 September 1986, at 10 pm at the Şan Tiyatrosu in Istanbul, Turkey, at the 2nd International Bilsak Jazz Festival, with Wolfgang Puschnig, Harry Pepl, Mike Richmond and Wolfgang Reisinger; organiser BİLSAK.
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27 September 1986 · Other
Bizim Caz, Datenbank des Jazz in der Türkei (online): „Dino Saluzzi ve Enrico Rava Beşlisi“, Şan Tiyatrosu, 2. Bilsak Caz Festivali
Database entry on the concert of the quintet of Dino Saluzzi and Enrico Rava on Saturday, 27 September 1986, at 11 pm at the Şan Tiyatrosu in Istanbul, Turkey, at the 2nd International Bilsak Jazz Festival, with Enrico Rava, Harry Pepl, Dino Saluzzi, Furio Di Castri and Bruce Ditmas.
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1988 · Other · DE
press review (Collage, compiler not named): „Cracked Mirrors“: Kritiken aus Deutschland, Österreich, Frankreich, Großbritannien und Japan
various (incl. Ken Hyder, Christa Wörner, Robert Urman)
Collage of reviews of “Cracked Mirrors” arranged around a concert photo of Harry Pepl: the review „Ausdrucksstark“ [“Expressive”] with the note on the quarterly list of the German Record Critics’ Award (German award for outstanding recordings, chosen by a jury of critics), concert reviews from Esslingen and Linz, a French review, an English one by Ken Hyder (“a marvellous feel of understatement”) and a Japanese CD review. This collection is the source of the often-quoted verdict on Pepl as one of the most innovative guitarists in Europe.
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Harry PEPL’s natural and attractive playing on his MIDI guitar creates constant “aha” moments and marks him out as one of the most innovative guitarists in the whole of Europe.
The jazz guitarist Harry Pepl proves to be a master of sound painting with his new album “Cracked Mirrors”
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27 August 1988 · Other
Music Week (British music trade magazine): „New Albums“ (Neuerscheinungen vom 30. August bis 2. September 1988)
The new-release list of the British music trade magazine includes “Cracked Mirrors” by Harry Pepl, Herbert Joos (printed “Joss”) and Jon Christensen for the week beginning Tuesday, 30 August 1988, as a jazz album on ECM/New Note, LP ECM 1356, CD 833 472-2. It is a trade listing of the British release, not a review.
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PEPL, Harry/Herbert JOSS/Jón CHRISTENSEN CRACKED MIRRORS ECM/New Note ECM 1356/8334722"CD"
Entry in the “New Albums” list of the British music trade magazine Music Week for the week of 30 August to 2 September 1988: British release of “Cracked Mirrors” on ECM/New Note, LP ECM 1356, CD 833 472-2. “JOSS” and “Jón” as printed, meaning Herbert Joos and Jon Christensen; a listing, not a review
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1990 · Other
Amadeo (CD-Booklet): Liner Notes und Credits zu „Schönberg Improvations“
Harry Lachner
Harry Lachner's English booklet text for the CD “Schönberg Improvations” (Amadeo 843 086-2, PolyGram Vienna, 1990).
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Lachner describes the record's paradox: Pepl, once recognisable by a modified Ovation guitar, later worked with samples on the MIDI guitar; here, however, he plays a real Bösendorfer grand piano from the guitar, and only “The Last Bars Of Mankind” sounds different. He calls this “a most radical use of technology” and quotes Dave Liebman on the urge to go beyond the limits of the instrument. The piano track is completely improvised, inspired by recordings of Arnold Schoenberg's piano works; the lyricism of “Alone Is A Golden Stone” and the trance-like 4/4 groove of “Magnet Resonance” stand amid highly abstract, atonal pieces. It closes with Glenn Gould as another source of inspiration. Plus the credits: recorded in November 1989 at the Sing Sang studio, Vienna, recording engineer Richard Österreicher jun., digital editing “Ton Eichinger”, produced by Harry Pepl, executive producer Wulf Müller, published by Antenna Music; thanks to Peter Lemell and the technicians of Bösendorfer and to AKG; front cover concept Marie-Luise Rausch, photography and design Wolfgang Plenk, booklet photos Fischnaller. The scan lacks one page of text between “(hence” and “deconstruction of old and worn-out musical patterns”.
a most radical use of technology: to play on a midi guitar connected to a computer just to return to a natural, acoustic sound
The simulation is complete, the circle is fullfilled and we should not be puzzled by the technical method but by the musical result.
Austrian guitarist Harry Pepl has gone a long and imperturbable way.
And yet, it is not a sampled sound, it's a Bösendorfer grand piano - played on the guitar.
the lyricism of "Alone Is A Golden Stone", the trance like 4/4 groove of "Magnet Resonance" are organically embedded into a context of highly abstract, atonal pieces.
If you're a great instrumentalist, you want to be able to express anything of the instrument, even beyond the instrument. It's not an instrument any more but an expression.
Dave Liebman
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2 April 1992 · Other
Knitting Factory Works, New York (letter): Einladung an das Harry Pepl Quartet für den 2. Juni 1992
Michael Dorf, Director
Letter from the Knitting Factory to Harry Pepl in Hernstein: on behalf of the club management, Michael Dorf invites the Harry Pepl Quartet to perform on 2 June 1992 at 11 p.m. at the club, which he describes as the first venue for avant-garde jazz in New York.
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Shortly afterwards the album “N.Y.C. Impressure” was made in New York.
We think this will be an invaluable opportunity to expose your music to a New York audience.
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17 July 1992 · Other
Pori Jazz, festival archive (online): Festival years 1992: John Purcell´s Blue Brass Connection
The online archive of Pori Jazz (jazz festival in Pori, Finland, held every year since 1966 and one of the oldest jazz festivals in Europe) lists, for the 27th festival from Saturday, 11 to Sunday, 19 July 1992, the band “John Purcell´s Blue Brass Connection” with Harry Pepl (guitar), John Purcell (saxophone), Graham Haynes (trumpet), Ron Burton (piano), Kenny Davis (bass), Ronnie Burrage (drums) and Paul Zauner (trombone). Three performances are listed: Friday, 17 July 1992, on the main stage at Kirjurinluoto in the programme starting at 5 pm, the same evening at the Village Gate, and Saturday, 18 July 1992, at the Nuorisokeskus (youth centre). For the same Kirjurinluoto programme the daily schedule also lists Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band and the Hammond line-up of Jimmy Smith and Jimmy McGriff. Pepl appears in the archive only in this year.
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1994 · Other
Amadeo, Vienna (CD-Booklet, 523 570-2): Abstract Truth: „Beginnings“ (Booklet)
Booklet of the CD “Beginnings” with all eight tracks, timings, composers and line-ups: Harry Pepl (guitar, guitar synthesiser), John Purcell (tenor saxophone, flute, saxello), Kenny Davis (bass), Ronnie Burrage (drums, synthesiser), Paul Zauner (trombone).
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It also contains Colette Oswald’s band photo on the Bow Bridge in Central Park, New York, a cover painting by Margit Taus, design by Andreas Ortag, a long list of thanks (state of Upper Austria, Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs, American Music Project, musicians such as George Lewis and Harry Sokal), a remembrance of George Adams and Carter Jefferson and the note “Harry Pepl plays PRS guitars and Tomastik strings”. No recording date is given.
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20 April 1994 · Other · DE
Österreichische Mediathek, Katalog (online): „Harry Pepl Quartet 20.04.1994 (1)“ (unveröffentlichte Aufnahme)
The Österreichische Mediathek (Austrian Mediathek), Austria’s archive of sound and video recordings at the Technisches Museum Wien, lists an unreleased recording of the Harry Pepl Quartet of Wednesday, 20 April 1994, recorded at the Orpheum in Graz, Austria, that is, at the concert of the Graz Meeting “Strings”. It is on compact cassette (shelf mark 6-69528) and can only be heard on site at the Mediathek in Vienna. The catalogue names only Harry Pepl (guitar); according to the Austrian news agency APA, the quartet played with Wolfgang Puschnig.
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8 June 1994 · Other · SK
Hudobný život (Slovak music magazine): Nr. 11: „Infojazz č. 2/94“, Abschnitt „Súťaže, dielne a festivaly v zahraničí“ (Wettbewerbe, Workshops und Festivals im Ausland)
Yvetta Lábska (Slovak Jazz Society)
The jazz page of the Slovak Jazz Society reports on the jazz festival in Raab, Upper Austria, Austria, from 20 to 23 May 1994 (Whitsun), with the Brecker Brothers, the quintet of Archie Shepp and Arthur Blythe, Jack DeJohnette, the Ray Anderson Quartet, the Dave Holland Quartet, David Murray, Randy Weston and others, including Harry Pepl in a duo with Jack DeJohnette.
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Jazz Festival Raab, 20 to 23 May 1994 (Whitsun). At the festival in Austria, the performers included […] Harry Pepl in a duo with Jack de Johnette
Short news item from the Slovak Jazz Society on the jazz page of the Slovak music magazine “Hudobný život” of June 1994 about the jazz festival in Raab, Upper Austria, Austria (today INNtöne), at Whitsun 1994; “Jack de Johnette” as printed
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1996 · Other
PAO Records (CD-Booklet, CD 10140-2): Booklettext zu „Flow“
Stephen Ferguson
English liner notes by the pianist and composer Stephen Ferguson for Harry Pepl’s solo piano album “Flow”, recorded digitally in a single take on Sunday, 10 March 1996, in the Brahms Hall of the Vienna Musikverein.
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Ferguson calls Pepl “a musician who hears”, who immediately translates what he hears into music from his own fingers and his own voice; on the guitar he is “one of Europe’s undisputed jazz masters”, on the piano a virtual stranger, which is exactly what gives the music its magic. He hears “a dream played awake”, a pure music played without technique, only with musicality and flow, a response to the big black Steinway in the acoustics of the Musikverein, and in it the pianistic heroes Gould, Jarrett, Debussy, Cecil Taylor, Bach, Schoenberg and Schubert. Pepl has the jazz man’s joy of real-time composition; the titles are chosen for personal reasons (childhood, “High Noon”, Gould). It closes with the master of the strings as “a masterly novice full of music”. The booklet also names Ferguson as editor (with Daniel Pepl) and as translator of Georg Pepl’s text. The text is available as a text PDF for signed-in users.
his very own instrument–the guitar–where he is one of Europe’s undisputed jazz masters
Harry Pepl is a musician who hears. He has that seldom gift–to immediately translate what he hears into music coming from his own fingers, into music coming from his own voice.
It is a dream played awake, full of snatches of music, gestures, spaces.
he is simply unafraid of any musical task, and has the jazz man’s joy of real time composition.
Let us simply enjoy the novelty and richness of this master of the strings becoming a novice at the keyboard, a masterly novice full of music, in a fast stream of rhythms and thematic lines, flowing.
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1996 · Other · DE
PAO Records (CD-Booklet, CD 10140-2): Booklettext zu „Flow“
Georg Pepl
Liner notes by Georg Pepl, musicologist and Harry Pepl’s elder son, for the solo piano album “Flow” (recorded on Sunday, 10 March 1996, in the Brahms Hall of the Vienna Musikverein), printed in the booklet also in Stephen Ferguson’s English translation.
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The text presents the improviser at the piano as an image of isolation and of freedom and draws a line from Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s free fantasias via Mozart and Beethoven to jazz, which built dams against the “flood of improvisation”. He reads the flowing that gives the album its name through Rousseau’s “Reveries of the Solitary Walker”, Goethe’s “Werther”, Freud’s “oceanic feeling” and Herbert Marcuse. At the piano Pepl enjoys losing himself in the moment, the notes stream out “all by themselves, as silent water or as a flow”; in “Grace & Gary” and “2 Klavierpianos” he improvised a second piano track over the first. On the titles: “Man könnte Klavierspielen müssen” as a reminiscence of Glenn Gould, “Improv 2” of Schubert’s impromptus, “Grace & Gary” of the film “High Noon”; on “3 Mo” he quotes Pepl himself (“mothy, momenty, minory”). The German text is freely available as a text PDF, Ferguson’s English version for signed-in users.
While playing the piano Harry Pepl enjoys being able to elevate himself to the mood of the moment, or to plunge into a different sense of being. The notes are independent, streaming out all by themselves, as silent water or as a flow.
Just looking at the titles of his pieces one recognises that Pepl is a deeply musical and romantic artist. Musically his playing is related to language itself, he has listened to its rhythms and double meanings.
The improvising pianist flows out into the world of tones, the piano player melts into oneness with the piano, desists in his identity as a subjective entity.
3 Mo stands for mothy, momenty, minory. Mothy because the music sounds as if the moths are waiting to pounce.
Word play on his piano piece “3 Mo” from the album “Flow” (1996): three German adjectives beginning with “mo”, echoing Motten (moths), Moll (minor key) and Moment
Harry Pepl
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17 September 2004 · Other · DE
IG Jazz Wien, Blue-Tomato-Archiv: „Rainer Rygalyk / Harry Pepl: Habanero-Slide-Show“
Event announcement for Friday, 17 September 2004 at the Blue Tomato in Vienna: presentation of photographs by the jazz photographer Rainer Rygalyk from the series “Jazzarts” with a video projection to which Pepl has added an acoustic layer of original compositions. Clemens Salesny and Wolfgang Schiftner improvise to the pictures and to Pepl’s CD.
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one of Austria’s most creative jazz musicians
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2010 · Other · DE
Land Niederösterreich, Festschrift „Kultur im Spiegel der Zeit. 1960–2010 Kulturpreise Niederösterreich“: „Musik. Eine Kulturgeschichte der Möglichkeiten und Unmöglichkeiten“
Irene Suchy
Music essay “Musik. Eine Kulturgeschichte der Möglichkeiten und Unmöglichkeiten” (“Music: a cultural history of possibilities and impossibilities”) by the Ö1 editor Irene Suchy in the commemorative volume “Kultur im Spiegel der Zeit. 1960–2010 Kulturpreise Niederösterreich”. Suchy describes the work of the juries, who may also “highlight what has been overlooked”, citing as an example Harry Pepl, whom the jury honoured shortly before his death; she links his career with the “legendary ORF Big Band”. In the list of prizewinners Pepl appears with the promotion prize of 1991 and the Lower Austrian prize of honour.
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the great instrumentalist and composer Harry Pepl
Pepl’s career with the legendary ORF Big Band
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2010 · Other
Vienna Art Orchestra, The Big Band Years (Universal Music Austria): „Euro-American Dream Stories“
Wolfgang Lamprecht (englische Übersetzung: Matthias Goldmann)
Text by Wolfgang Lamprecht (University of Vienna) for the compilation “The Big Band Years” by the [Vienna Art Orchestra](ensemble:vienna-art-orchestra), written after the farewell party “Game Over” at the Porgy & Bess in Vienna in August 2010. Lamprecht describes how Mathias Rüegg's orchestra fostered distinct musical personalities who shaped European jazz and contemporary improvised music, and for the 1970s names [Werner Pirchner](person:werner-pirchner), Harry Pepl and [Leszek Zadlo](person:leszek-zadlo).
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distinct music personalities, many of whom have helped shape the character of European jazz and contemporary improvised music
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2015 · Other
riegler.weblog.mur.at (Website Daniel Riegler): Biography Daniel Riegler, Trombone, Composition
Daniel Riegler
English biography on the website of the trombonist and composer Daniel Riegler, born in 1977 in Graz, Austria, with a tabular overview up to 2015. For 2008 it lists his leadership of the Porgy & Bess (Vienna jazz club) stage band Studio Dan and the Harry Pepl Prize 2008.
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13 September 2016 · Other · DE
NÖN (Niederösterreichische Nachrichten): „Tribut an Harry Pepl“
Preview under the label “Highlight”: the Jazzclub Melk presents “A tribute to Harry Pepl” on Friday, 23 September 2016, at 8 p.m. at the Tischlerei in Melk, Lower Austria, Austria.
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Clemens Salesny, Martin Bayer, Peter Primus Frosch and Agnes Heginger pay their respects to the jazz musician who died in 2005: besides partly familiar compositions, the quartet interacts with previously unreleased music from Pepl's last creative period, “Harry Pepl's Lonely Single Swinger Band”. With a band photo.
The Melk jazz club dedicates a performance at the Tischlerei to the “giant of improvisation”.
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16 November 2018 · Other · DE
Kronen Zeitung: „A Tribute To“ (Tagestipp)
Listing on the day of the concert: “The Lonely Single Swingers” present a tribute evening on Friday, 16 November 2018, at 8.30 p.m. at the Jazzit in Salzburg, Austria (Elisabethstraße 11), to the composer and jazz guitarist Harry Pepl, who died in 2005. The quartet interacts with previously unreleased recordings from his last creative period. With a band photo.
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The quartet interacts with Pepl by means of previously unreleased recordings from his last creative period.
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June 2024 · Other
Bandcamp (Kresten Osgood): „LIVE AT H15 STUDIO“ (Kresten Osgood Quintet)
Kresten Osgood Quintet
Release page of the album “Live At H15 Studio” (ILK Music, June 2024) by the Danish Kresten Osgood Quintet.
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Track 2 is “The Halleys Comet - Light Blue Blues” by Harry Pepl; the album was named Jazz Release of the Year at the Danish Music Awards Jazz (Danish jazz awards) in 2024.
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2025 · Other · DE
violafalb.com (Website Viola Falb): Biografie Viola Falb
Viola Falb
Biography on the website of the saxophonist and composer Viola Falb, covering her training, bands such as FALB FICTION and the saxophone quartet PHOEN, and a list of awards up to 2025. It lists the Harry Pepl Prize under 2016; the contemporary reports in Falter and NÖN document the award in November 2015.
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10 September 2026 · Other · DE
Facebook (Thomas Palme): „...noch eine Harry Pepl Story zu seinem heutigen 81 Geburtstag“
Thomas Palme
Public Facebook post by the Viennese jazz and blues guitarist Thomas Palme for Harry Pepl's 81st birthday with a memory of an Air Mail concert (Wolfgang Puschnig, Mike Richmond, Wolfgang Reisinger) at the Titanic, a fashionable club at the time in the Theobaldgasse in Vienna, Austria, in the 1980s or early 1990s: when the power failed in the middle of the set, Pepl played a Wes Montgomery tune by candlelight, all alone and acoustically, and the room fell silent and reverent. Photo in the original post: Andreas Mayer.
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An anecdote that shows how deeply Pepl, despite his modern, highly virtuosic guitar playing, was also rooted in the jazz guitar tradition
to this day a very vivid memory of one of Austria's greatest jazz guitarists