Press on Wolfgang Puschnig
What was written and broadcast about Harry Pepl and Wolfgang Puschnig: reviews, portraits, interviews and obituaries, with summary and source.
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15 April 1986 · Other · FR
Tempo (Paris), no. 3: „En concert: tous les programmes jusqu’à fin juin“
Issue 3 of the free Paris concert paper “Tempo” (concerts and records) with listings up to the end of June 1986.
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Under the jazz club New Morning, the “Harry Pepl quartet” is announced for 14 May 1986, with Wolfgang Puschnig (soprano saxophone), Mike Richmond (bass) and Wolfgang Reisinger (drums), i.e. the Air Mail line-up. Digitised by the “Archives du punk en France” of the University of Tours, p. 7.
On the 14th: Harry Pepl quartet: Wolfgang Puschnig, soprano sax; Mike Richmond, bass; Wolfgang Reisinger, drums.
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8 March 1988 · Report · DE
APA-Basisdienst (Austria Presse Agentur), Rubrik APA JAZZ NEWS: „Jazz aus Österreich“
initials „hmf/fwi/ca“
Record column on Austrian jazz: Air Mail with Wolfgang Puschnig, Harry Pepl, Wolfgang Reisinger and Mike Richmond, successful abroad as well, releases “Light Blues” on PolyGram.
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“Cracked Mirrors” with Herbert Joos and Jon Christensen was initiated and co-financed by the Graz arts association gamsbART and taken over by ECM (the renowned European jazz label).
“Cracked Mirrors” is the name of the LP featuring the three jazz musicians in truly outstanding form.
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4 October 1988 · Report · DE
APA-Basisdienst (Austria Presse Agentur), Rubrik APA JAZZ NEWS: „Große Konzertreihe mit Jazz und zeitgenössischer Musik in Graz“
initials „hmf/fwi“
Preview of the autumn programme of gamsbART (Graz concert promoter, directed by Heimo Steps) at the Catholic student centre Münzgraben.
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The December programme includes a “special evening” with Pepl, Herbert Joos and Jon Christensen, who received the German Record Critics’ Award for “Cracked Mirrors”, initiated by gamsbART (the text inconsistently gives 16 November). Pepl is also named as a guest on Wolfgang Puschnig’s album “Pieces Of The Dream”.
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19 December 1988 · Report · DE
APA-Basisdienst (Austria Presse Agentur), Jahresrückblick „Pop, Rock, Jazz“: „Österreichs Jazz wurde international“
initials „hmf/fwi/ca“
Review of the year by the Austria Presse Agentur: in 1988 Austrian jazz had finally become international.
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First place goes to Pepl’s German Record Critics’ Award for “Cracked Mirrors”, followed by Wolfgang Puschnig’s “Pieces Of The Dream”, Karl “Bumi” Fian and the Muthspiel brothers.
Austrian jazz has finally become international. Guitarist Harry Pepl received the German Record Critics’ Award for “Cracked Mirrors”, recorded with Herbert Joos and Jon Christensen.
Austria Presse Agentur
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19 May 1993 · Report · DE
Der Standard (Seite S5, column „Veranstaltungen zum Vorausplanen“): „Frische Luftpost“
Ljubiša Tošić (initials „tos“)
Listings tip: Air Mail, one of the most successful Austrian bands, has re-formed after a long break, with Wolfgang Puschnig, Harry Pepl, Wolfgang Reisinger and Palle Danielsson on double bass. Concert at the Vienna jazz venue Reigen.
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“Air Mail” was one of the most successful Austrian bands.
Almost everything this country has to offer in jazz of international quality is gathered here.
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30 May 1993 · Review · DE
Kurier (p. 21): „Raab-mood - eine Suche“
Peter Klimitsch
Mood report from the first day of the Whitsun jazz festival in Raab (Friday, 28, to Sunday, 30 May 1993) with the Gary Bartz Quartet and Horace Parlan.
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Air Mail played with Jean-Paul Celea (called “Jean-Pierre” in the text) instead of Palle Danielsson on double bass; Pepl is described as „Gitarren-Mastermind“ [“guitar mastermind”].
Airmail, with Jean-Pierre Celea instead of Palle Danielsson on double bass, was devoted to guitar mastermind Harry Pepl.
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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
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2001 · Review · DE
Concerto (music magazine), issue 5/2001, p. 54: „Fünf Variationen österreichischer Jazzkunst“ (Austrian Jazzart)
Jörg Weitlaner
Joint review of the first five CDs of Universal Music’s Austrian Jazzart series (reissues of Austrian jazz albums).
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First comes “Light Blues” by Air Mail, the quartet’s second and last record, with Wolfgang Puschnig, Wolfgang Reisinger and Mike Richmond. Pepl describes the band’s “telepathic understanding”; the review quotes from the liner notes (by Andreas Felber according to Discogs) his playing “marked by rough, jagged cascades of notes” and highlights the then still young MIDI technology. For Wolfgang Puschnig’s “Pieces Of The Dream” (No. 5) Pepl is named among the duo partners.
playing marked by rough, jagged cascades of notes
Andreas Felber
The interplay of the whole band, in which we had developed a telepathic understanding, was what made Airmail special for me.
Looking back in 2001 on his quartet Air Mail
Harry Pepl
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2006 · Obituary · DE
Jazzzeitung (p. 6): „Ciao Habanero“ (Harry Pepl 1945 bis 2005)
Rainer Rygalyk
Personal obituary by the jazz photographer Rainer Rygalyk. Wolfgang Puschnig and Wolfgang Reisinger recall the years with Air Mail; Rygalyk describes Pepl’s last major public appearance in 2004 at the Jazz Festival in Salzburg, with playback of eight Composings and live musicians in front of his pictures.
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He is the European jazz guitarist par excellence.
I simply learned his musical language.
Wolfgang Puschnig
It was an extreme pull. Suddenly playing with someone who stands up there, two floors above us, steps on the gas so confidently and carries everything along with him.
Wolfgang Reisinger
To me he was a Franz Schubert kind of guy: incredibly beautiful songs, but of the highest quality, and the next moment completely bizarre and jagged.
The drummer Wolfgang Reisinger. “Schubert Franzl” is the affectionate Viennese way of referring to Franz Schubert (1797 to 1828), the Viennese composer celebrated for his songs
Wolfgang Reisinger
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15 March 2006 · Report · DE
APA-Basisdienst (APA0260, culture): „Starke Töne: JazzWerkstatt Wien lädt wieder zum Festival ins WUK“
APA (initials leh/aku)
Preview of the second festival of the JazzWerkstatt Wien at the WUK in Vienna from 16 March to 8 April 2006.
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The evening of 19 March is dedicated to the memory of Harry Pepl and Bumi Fian, with guests such as Wolfgang Puschnig, Wolfgang Reisinger and Raphael Preuschl.
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6 May 2010 · Portrait · DE
mica – music austria (Online): „Porträt: Wolfgang Reisinger“
Portrait of the drummer Wolfgang Reisinger at mica – music austria (Austria’s music information centre).
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Besides Part Of Art, he names Air Mail with Wolfgang Puschnig, Mike Richmond and Harry Pepl as the second important band of his own during his time in the Vienna Art Orchestra. Pepl, he says, was the first of the great musicians from whom he could learn a lot, “a real genius”. He recounts how John Scofield called out “I’ll kill you!” to Pepl as they changed over on stage, and mentions tapes of a live performance that are almost better than the two studio albums.
Time and again I have had the good fortune to meet great musicians from whom you could really learn a lot, and the first of them was definitely Harry Pepl. He was a real genius and a great guitarist, with an energy and seriousness that showed you where things could go.
Wolfgang Reisinger
I still remember well how we once came off the stage, John Scofield went on, and in passing he said to Harry, ‘I’ll kill you!’. Those are the little experiences you don’t forget. That really was a totally hot band back then.
Wolfgang Reisinger
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5 January 2011 · Portrait · DE
Kurier: „Jazz mit Herz, Witz und Bauchgefühl“
Werner Rosenberger
Portrait of Wolfgang Puschnig ahead of his project “For The Love Of It” at the Vienna Konzerthaus. Besides his work with Linda Sharrock, the Kurier calls his projects with Harry Pepl in Air Mail legendary; the same text appeared on kurier.at.
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Legendary, too, his collaboration with the singer Linda Sharrock or his projects with Harry Pepl (“Air Mail”).
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19 May 2016 · Interview · DE
Die Presse (Online): „Kärntner Jazzer mit langem Atem“
Samir H. Köck
Interview with Wolfgang Puschnig on his 60th birthday. Puschnig names the seven years with Airmail, Harry Pepl’s band, as one of the highlights of his career; Pepl is only a side topic of the conversation.
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the seven years with Airmail, the band of the guitarist Harry Pepl, who died in 2005
As a guitarist he was outside every norm. That opened up a new, more flexible approach to phrasing for me.
Wolfgang Puschnig
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20 May 2016 · Interview · DE
Kleine Zeitung: „Der jazzverwandte Kosmopolit“
Otmar Klammer
Interview with Wolfgang Puschnig on his 60th birthday. Asked about the most lasting influence, he names Harry Pepl first, with whom he played for seven years in Air Mail; his planned double CD of duos also gathers recordings with friends who are no longer alive, such as Pepl and Hans Koller.
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Harry Pepl, definitely, with whom I played in the Airmail band for seven years.
Wolfgang Puschnig
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10 June 2016 · Review · DE
Der Standard (RONDO): „Wolfgang Puschnig: Faces and Stories“
Review of the Puschnig compilation “Faces and Stories”: among other things it reissues the duos from “Pieces of the Dream” (1988), on which Harry Pepl can be heard alongside Carla Bley and Hans Koller.
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The great tenor saxophonist Hans Koller, a central figure of modern jazz in Europe, was also there at the time, and of course the guitarist Harry Pepl too.
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10 June 2022 · Radio · DE
Ö1, Spielräume (Sendungsseite auf orf.at): „Nachruf auf Wolfgang Reisinger“
Andreas Felber (Gestaltung)
Programme on the death of the drummer Wolfgang Reisinger, who died unexpectedly in Vienna on Wednesday, 8 June 2022.
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Felber calls him Austria’s most internationally renowned jazz drummer and recalls his ensembles of the 1980s, among them Air Mail with Harry Pepl and Wolfgang Puschnig, the Vienna Art Orchestra and his work in France.
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22 January 2023 · Portrait · DE
Kurier (p. 33, culture): „Das erweiterte musikalische Bewusstsein“
Michael Huber
Portrait of the trombonist, composer and scholar George Lewis and his work for greater diversity in music.
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Thanks to collaborations with the Viennese ensemble Studio Dan and with musicians such as Harry Pepl or Wolfgang Puschnig, Lewis has a long connection with Austria. The online version appeared on kurier.at on 21 January 2023.
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5 February 2024 · Portrait
European Jazz Masters Of The Past (Blog): „European Jazz Masters Of The Past #2: Harry Pepl“
Wulf Müller
Detailed biographical essay by the former producer at PolyGram Austria and co-founder of “Jazz Live”, with photographs from the family collection.
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Müller first met Pepl in 1984 at an Air Mail concert in Vienna. He describes the Jazzzwio and the time with Benny Goodman, the making of the “Schönberg Improvations”, whose idea Pepl brought to his office, and the solo piano record “Flow” from 1996, recorded without corrections. Some biographical details, such as his birth and the start of his teaching in Graz, differ from the documented sources.
a very humble, charismatic and private person with a great sense of humour. Someone who was constantly looking for new ideas
While Harry was building his reputation as one of Europe’s most interesting and unique guitarists
He swings like hell
Harry Pepl on Benny Goodman
Musically, I still find this album exciting, challenging and powerful.
Harry sat down at the piano, which he never really learned to play, nor practised, and plays, let’s the music flow through him.
After a few moments I don’t feel time anymore. An emotion of happiness floats through me and the sounds stream on their own
Harry Pepl
the most spectacular record of one of the most original guitar players of European Jazz in those years
Andreas Felber
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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