Press on Wolfgang Muthspiel
What was written and broadcast about Harry Pepl and Wolfgang Muthspiel: reviews, portraits, interviews and obituaries, with summary and source.
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28 January 2022 · Interview
The San Diego Union-Tribune (Online): „Austrian jazz guitar star Wolfgang Muthspiel jazzed about pending San Diego debut concert“
George Varga
Interview with Wolfgang Muthspiel ahead of his first concert in San Diego.
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Asked about Austrian role models, he names, besides Joe Zawinul, his teacher Harry Pepl: an important guitarist with a sound of his own, a heavy player with a great sense of time, to him an international figure with his own voice.
There was also an important guitar player by the name of Harry Pepl, who was my teacher. He had a unique sound and was a heavy player, with a great sense of time.
Wolfgang Muthspiel
I think he was an international figure and definitely had his own voice.
Wolfgang Muthspiel
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10 September 2018 · Portrait · DE
wienerzeitung.at: „Begnadeter Harry Pepl“
Short portrait for his birthday on 10 September: musical influences in the family (opera, Count Basie, Schrammel music), first engagements with Harald Neuwirth and Erich Kleinschuster's sextet, the ORF Big Band, fame through the Pirchner-Pepl JazzZwio, performances with Benny Goodman, Dave Holland, Wolfgang Puschnig and Dino Saluzzi and at festivals in Montreux, Berlin and Saalfelden. As students the text names Wolfgang Muthspiel, Peter Havlicek and Guido Jeszenszky.
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a gifted guitarist and an exceptional phenomenon
Otto Kolleritsch
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12 July 2017 · Interview · DE
Kronen Zeitung (Styria): „Meine Stücke sind wie Räume“
Matthias Wagner
Interview with Wolfgang Muthspiel ahead of his concert at the Judenburger Sommer festival.
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The Kronen Zeitung recalls that he was admitted to the music academy in Graz at 15, first studying classical guitar with Leo Witoszynskyj, then jazz with Harry Pepl as well.
first classical guitar with Leo Witoszynskyj, then jazz with Harry Pepl as well
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11 September 2014 · Interview
London Jazz News: „Interview: Wolfgang Muthspiel“
Interview with Wolfgang Muthspiel. He introduces “Air Love and Vitamins” as a piece by his former guitar teacher in Graz, Harry Pepl, and recommends Pepl especially for his rhythm.
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He is an interesting musician to check out, especially in the rhythmical field.
Wolfgang Muthspiel
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2 March 2009 · Interview · DE
Die Presse (p. 28, arts section): „Applaus kann auch gefährlich sein“ (Interview mit Wolfgang Muthspiel)
Samir H. Köck
Interview with Wolfgang Muthspiel on the presentation of his guitar trio MGT at the Vienna Konzerthaus. Of his teacher Pepl he says that his music gave expression to inner avalanches and had something risky in every phrase.
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As a musician, Pepl gave expression to inner avalanches.
Wolfgang Muthspiel
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7 December 2005 · Obituary · DE
Süddeutsche Zeitung (p. 17, arts section): „Verstummte Saiten“ (Zum Tod des Wiener Jazzgitarristen Harry Pepl)
Ralf Dombrowski
Obituary from Munich (Germany): the Graz Academy of Music appointed Pepl in 1977, the same year in which the Zwio with Werner Pirchner began to attract attention beyond Austria; years with Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Dino Saluzzi, Charlie Mariano and Lee Konitz followed. Dombrowski describes a style with broad arcs of tension, unexpected harmonic progressions and clear, at times metallic sounds.
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Students such as Wolfgang Muthspiel still count him among the most important driving forces in recent European jazz history.
In dialogue the two took the small chamber-jazz form to a previously unimagined communicative intensity.
He shaped a playing style which, with expansive arcs of tension, unexpected harmonic progressions and clear, at times metallic sounds, expanded the expressive range of his instrument melodically and rhythmically.
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31 August 2004 · Review · DE
Der Standard (p. 24, culture): „Sicherheitsdenken und ‚positive Signale‘“ (Ausklang des Jazzfestivals Saalfelden 2004)
Andreas Felber
Report from the Saalfelden jazz festival 2004. In one of his rare solo concerts, on Sunday, 29 August 2004, Wolfgang Muthspiel reflected, among other things, the playing of his teacher Pepl.
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the rugged rhapsodic style of a Harry Pepl
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18 May 2004 · Review · DE
Salzburger Nachrichten (p. 12, culture): „JAZZ“ (Wolfgang Muthspiel: „Air, Love & Vitamins“)
Short review of Wolfgang Muthspiel’s trio album “Air, Love & Vitamins” (Quinton Records) with Marc Johnson and Brian Blade, whose title comes from Pepl’s composition, with concert dates in Salzburg, Freistadt and Vienna.
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The title comes from a composition by the grand old master of jazz guitar, Harry Pepl
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22 November 2003 · Review · DE
Kronen Zeitung (p. 30): „Nostalgische Bruderschaft“ (Muthspiel und Muthspiel im Grazer M59)
initials „ME“
Review of Christian and Wolfgang Muthspiel’s evening at the Graz jazz club M59 in Münzgrabenstraße 59 with compositions by Pirchner, the film “Der Untergang des Alpenlandes” and the programme “Early Music”.
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At the same venue the brothers had heard the Jazzzwio as young listeners.
25 years ago the Muthspiel brothers themselves sat in the audience at Münzgrabenstraße 59 and marvelled at Werner Pirchner and Harry Pepl.
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22 November 2003 · Report · DE
Tiroler Tageszeitung (p. 61): „Jazz gegen Oberflächlichkeit“
Preview of the Muthspiel & Muthspiel concert on Saturday, 22 November 2003, at the Treibhaus in Innsbruck (Tyrol, Austria).
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Christian Muthspiel tells how the Jazzzwio showed him artistic freedom beyond the academic standard repertoire; Wolfgang Muthspiel calls the duo’s concerts the spark for his own career.
When the two of them played, it was an event. The immense rhythmic power was incredible
Wolfgang Muthspiel
Through the Jazz-Zwio I learned that in this music you really could do exactly what you wanted yourself
Christian Muthspiel
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19 November 2003 · Report · DE
Der Standard (p. 12, Szenario): „Die Muthspiels - auf den Spuren eines Zwios“
initials „tos“
Preview of the Vienna concert of Muthspiel & Muthspiel at the Porgy & Bess in the twentieth year of their duo, with Pirchner’s film “Der Untergang des Alpenlandes”.
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The text praises the Jazzzwio as an irresistible combination of subtlety and intensity on a chamber-music basis.
Pepl’s guitar, whose notes could sound gentle but also strike with nerve-shredding force, remains unrivalled to this day, and not only in Austria.
Ljubiša Tošić
Pepl & Pirchner, that was once one of those irresistible jazz combinations that knew how to unite musical subtlety and intensity on a chamber-music foundation.
Ljubiša Tošić
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24 January 2003 · Review · DE
Neue Vorarlberger Tageszeitung (p. 41, culture): „Diffizile Jazz-Spielereien“
Martin Juen
Review of the concert by the Wolfgang Muthspiel Trio with Marc Johnson and Brian Blade on Wednesday, 22 January 2003, at the Spielboden in Dornbirn (Vorarlberg, Austria), opening the “Jazz&” series.
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Alongside Thelonious Monk and Vince Mendoza, Muthspiel paid tribute to his teacher Pepl in the programme.
Muthspiel’s most formative teacher, Harry Pepl
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1 December 2002 · Report · DE
Kleine Zeitung (p. 66, culture): „Reflexionen“
Otmar Klammer
Preview of the Muthspiel & Muthspiel concert on Sunday, 1 December 2002, at the music school in Deutschlandsberg (Styria, Austria).
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Klammer recalls that Pirchner once invented the name of the Graz concert promoter gamsbART, and calls the Jazzzwio a myth and the brothers’ own point of departure.
the legendary “Jazz-Zwio”, which the vibraphonist Pirchner turned into a myth in the mid-seventies together with the splendid guitarist Harry Pepl
which the vibraphonist Pirchner, together with the splendid guitarist Harry Pepl, turned into a myth in the mid-seventies.
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28 November 2002 · Review · DE
Salzburger Nachrichten (p. 14, culture): „Heimweh, Jodler und Zwiefache“
initials „PAC“
Short review of Wolfgang and Christian Muthspiel’s homage to the Jazzzwio on Tuesday, 26 November 2002, at the Ziegelstadel in Hallein (Salzburg, Austria).
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It starts from the Jazzzwio piece “Homesick”, whose homesickness leaves open whether it is for faraway places or for home itself.
the duo also made audible the timeless aesthetic qualities of a music that has lost nothing of its relevance
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26 August 2002 · Review · DE
Salzburger Nachrichten (p. 10, culture): „Grooven nach Mitternacht“ (Jazzfestival Saalfelden 2002)
Clemens Panagl
Report from the 24th International Jazzfestival Saalfelden (Salzburg, Austria). On Saturday, 24 August 2002, Christian and Wolfgang Muthspiel paid tribute to Pepl and Pirchner and showed how relevant the Pirchner and Pepl oeuvre still is.
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Avalanches of sound also characterise the playing of the Austrian guitarist Harry Pepl.
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27 July 2002 · Report · DE
Der Standard (p. 30, Szenario): „Urwüchsiges Material“ (Werner-Pirchner-Schwerpunkt beim Festival „Glatt & Verkehrt“)
Andreas Felber
Preview of the Pirchner evening on Sunday, 28 July 2002, in the Minoritenkirche in Krems-Stein.
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Felber recalls the Jazzzwio’s triumphs on Europe’s festival stages; Christian Muthspiel explains why the brothers’ duo stays close to the originals on the three Jazzzwio records.
celebrated triumphs on Europe’s festival stages in the Jazz-Zwio with the guitarist Harry Pepl
Precisely because the energy of the Zwio cannot be separated from the actual pieces and compositions
Christian Muthspiel
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24 July 2002 · Portrait · DE
Falter (p. 55, culture): „Leiwand oder ned leiwand“ (Doppelporträt Muthspiel & Muthspiel und Jazzzwio)
Klaus Taschwer
Double portrait ahead of the premiere of the programme “Muthspiel & Muthspiel play Pepl/Pirchner” at the Glatt & Verkehrt festival.
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Wolfgang Muthspiel, who studied guitar with Pepl in Graz, remembers lessons “like an extended concert” and Pepl’s laconic verdict, either “leiwand” (Viennese for great) or “net leiwand”; for Christian Muthspiel the Jazzzwio came “like a liberation”.
Pepl was one of the most interesting guitarists in jazz. Great musicians like Dave Liebman or Jack DeJohnette say so too.
The guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel, once Pepl’s student in Graz; the title of the Falter article, “Leiwand oder ned leiwand”, is Viennese for “great or not great”
Wolfgang Muthspiel
The lessons with him at the conservatory were like an extended concert.
Wolfgang Muthspiel
Pepl and Pirchner showed us that you can make exactly the music you want to make.
The trombonist and composer Christian Muthspiel on the Jazzzwio as a model for his generation; the title of the Falter article, “Leiwand oder ned leiwand”, is Viennese for “great or not great”
Christian Muthspiel
listening again now, I noticed once more how magnificently Pepl and Pirchner played. That was improvisation in the best sense.
Wolfgang Muthspiel
He played something to me, I had to play along, and every few bars he commented on how it was going. In his words that was, laconically, either ‘leiwand’ or ‘net leiwand’ [Viennese for ‘great’ or ‘not great’].
Wolfgang Muthspiel
The time I studied with Pepl was very formative. The lessons with him at the conservatory were like an extended concert.
Wolfgang Muthspiel
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2002 · Report · DE
Concerto (music magazine), issue 5/2002, p. 40: „24. Internationales Jazzfest Saalfelden“
Andreas Felber
Festival report by Andreas Felber (photos: Herbert Höpfl) on the 24th Jazzfestival Saalfelden (Salzburg, Austria) in August 2002.
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Felber singles out the homage by the brothers Christian and Wolfgang Muthspiel to the Jazzzwio of Werner Pirchner and Harry Pepl, disbanded in 1985: close to the originals, they turned pieces from the three vibraphone and guitar albums into calm mood pictures, including “Raga in M”. For Felber, proof that this music is developing its own traditions in Europe too.
They offered an impressive homage to the “Jazzzwio” of Werner Pirchner/Harry Pepl, disbanded in 1985: the brothers Christian and Wolfgang Muthspiel.
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2002 · Report · DE
treibhaus Innsbruck (programme note): „DuoDue: Muthspiel & Muthspiel spielen die Musik von Pirchner & Pepl“
Andreas Felber
Programme text by Andreas Felber for the concert of the brothers Wolfgang and Christian Muthspiel with their programme “Muthspiel & Muthspiel play Pepl-Pirchner” at the treibhaus Innsbruck (cultural centre in Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria).
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Wolfgang Muthspiel recalls a concert by Pirchner and Pepl in Graz in 1982 as a formative experience; until 1986 Pepl was his teacher at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. Christian Muthspiel describes what the Jazzzwio showed him. Werner Pirchner congratulated the brothers on their first duo record “Schneetanz” with a postcard, without knowing them personally.
When Pirchner/Pepl played, it was an event. I personally still remember Pepl’s avalanche-like improvisations very well, where things always somehow got ‘dangerous’, hot. His immense rhythmic power was unbelievable.
During my studies, standards and the academic jazz repertoire were held in high esteem. Through the ‘Jazz-Zwio’ I learned that in this music you really could do exactly what you wanted yourself.
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26 February 1996 · Review · DE
Kronen Zeitung (p. 16): „Mythos und Zielpunkte“
Review of two CDs by Günter Meinhart’s STUDIO PERCUSSION graz.
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Extraplatte 242, with pieces by Pepl, Wolfgang Muthspiel and Armin Pokorn, offers in the reviewer’s words colourful, electronically supported expression; Pepl wrote „albträumerische Filmmusik“ [“nightmarish film music”].
Richly coloured, electronically supported expression with an enormous range
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16 February 1994 · Report · DE
APA-Basisdienst (Austria Presse Agentur): „‚Strings‘ - Ein Jazzfestival der Saiten“
initials „hmf/gg“
Programme presentation of the Graz jazz festival “Graz Meeting ’94” (19 to 21 April 1994, Orpheum) on the theme of string instruments, with Joe Pass, John Abercrombie, Bill Frisell, Derek Bailey, the String Trio of New York, Wolfgang Muthspiel and the trio Kühn, Jenny-Clark, Humair. Pepl plays in a quartet with Wolfgang Puschnig.
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Nor must one of the most experimental and versatile Austrian jazz guitarists be missing: Harry Pepl
Austria Presse Agentur