Chronology
Life and work year by year. Every entry is documented; we welcome additions and corrections.
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1970s
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25 September 1975
Hip Jargon with Werner Pirchner at the Vienna Funkhaus
Vienna
On Thursday, 25 September 1975, Hip Jargon plays with Pepl (guitar), Wayne Darling (double bass) and Fritz Ozmec (drums) in the Great Broadcasting Hall of the Funkhaus in Vienna, Austria; the guest is Werner Pirchner on vibraphone. The recording from the ORF radio archive is broadcast on 5 June 2020 in Ö1’s “In Concert”, which calls Hip Jargon “the nucleus of the famous ‘Jazz-Zwio’”.
Concerts
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May 1979
Concert with Friedrich Gulda in Graz
Graz
For early May 1979 the Burgenländische Freiheit announced “a concert of superlatives” at the Münzgrabenheim in Graz: Friedrich Gulda on piano with the two former ORF Big Band musicians Wayne Darling (bass) and Harry Pepl (guitar).
Concerts
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16 November 1979 to 24 November 1979
Tour with the Vienna Art Orchestra
Austria
Pepl played on the tour for the debut album “Tango from Obango” (Steyr, Linz, Dornbirn, Feldkirch, Vienna, Graz). The album was recorded on 22 and 23 November 1979.
Concerts
1980s
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23 March 1980 to 25 March 1980
Concerts with the Vienna Art Orchestra
Vienna, Zurich, Basel
With the Vienna Art Orchestra, Pepl played in Vienna (Jazzspring), Zurich and Basel; in June 1980 the “Concerto Piccolo” tour of Austria followed.
Concerts
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September 1980
Jack DeJohnette sits in spontaneously at Saalfelden
Saalfelden
At the Jazzfestival Saalfelden, Jack DeJohnette stepped onto the stage during a Jazzzwio performance and played along spontaneously.
Concerts
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7 November 1980 to 8 November 1980
Concerts with Benny Goodman in Berlin
Berlin
Pepl played two concerts at the Berlin Philharmonie with Benny Goodman, Don Haas, Peter Witte and Charly Antolini. At the rehearsal on 6 November, “Harry Pepl's Blues” came about spontaneously. The live recording was not released until 1996.
Concerts
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12 July 1981
Jazzzwio at the Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux
Pepl was called to the telephone in Graz during a lesson and agreed to appear at the guitar festival in Montreux, but as a duo with Pirchner. The concert on Sunday 12 July 1981 is regarded as the first big step in Pepl's international career. The live recording was released as an LP on WEA.
Concerts
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4 September 1981
Benny Goodman at the Tivoli, Copenhagen
Copenhagen
For a television show at the Jazzhus Slukefter, Pepl played with Goodman, Jimmy Maxwell, Svend Asmussen, Don Haas, Peter Witte and Charly Antolini. Goodman later sent him a photo with the dedication “for Harry, a great guitarist”. In 2006 the Porgy & Bess dated the concert film to 1980.
Concerts
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6 November 1981
Jazzfest Berlin
Berlin
The Jazzzwio played at the Metropol in Berlin. The first piece is called “Berlin '81, die Erste”.
Concerts
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1 April 1982
Austria Drei in Graz
Graz
Concert at the Studentenhaus Münzgraben with Michael Di Pasqua on drums, after which the trail of the band, as far as it can be reconstructed, goes cold.
Concerts
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1 October 1982
Ars Electronica: “Jazz und Elektronik” (Jazz and Electronics)
Linz
At the Ars Electronica evening “Jazz und Elektronik” in the Great Hall of the Brucknerhaus in Linz, Pepl plays in the Ars Electronica Workshop Ensemble with François Jeanneau, Wolfgang Dauner, Jasper van't Hof, Adelhard Roidinger and Daniel Humair; Alphonse Mouzon's quartet also performs. The programme calls Pepl “one of the leading jazz guitarists in Europe”.
Concerts
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2 October 1982
German Jazz Festival Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main
Pepl and Pirchner played in the Großer Saal of the Alte Oper, including titles such as “Wiener essen Frankfurter”.
Concerts
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17 October 1982
Donaueschingen with the Vienna Art Orchestra
Donaueschingen
Pepl played in “Johnny tritt ab, No Jazz Opera in two parts” as part of the Donaueschingen Music Days; the guest was John Surman. It is the last traceable collaboration with the Vienna Art Orchestra.
Concerts
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December 1982
Bratislava Jazz Days
Bratislava
At the PKO Hall in Bratislava, Pepl played the standard “St. Thomas” with the formation “The International Conclave”; the live recording was released in 1983 on the double LP “Bratislava Jazz Days 1982”.
Concerts
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22 January 1984
Pirchner, Pepl, Di Pasqua concert in Salzburg
Salzburg
The poster “Jazz im Theater” announces Werner Pirchner, Harry Pepl and Michael Di Pasqua on Sunday 22 January 1984, 8 pm, at the Elisabethbühne Salzburg; the archive of Salzburg’s Jazzit lists the evening in its concert history, with Pirchner on vibraphone and marimba.
Concerts
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25 March 1984
Jazzzwio in the Conservatory Hall, Innsbruck
Innsbruck
The Innsbruck live recording of Sunday 25 March 1984 forms the second part of the release “Live In Concerts”.
Concerts
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May 1984
Air Mail in Moers
Moers
Air Mail made their breakthrough at the Moers jazz festival, with Karl “Bumi” Fian as guest. The debut “Prayer for Peace” was released in 1985 on Moers Music.
Concerts
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23 September 1984
Portal Unit at the Schlachthof in Graz
Graz
Pepl's first reconstructible concert with Michel Portal, George Lewis, Joachim Kühn, Jean-François Jenny-Clark and Daniel Humair. Festivals in France followed.
Concerts
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March 1985
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22 March 1985 to 23 March 1985
Théâtre de la Ville, Paris
Paris
The Michel Portal Unit played as a quintet with Portal, Pepl, Jenny-Clark, Humair and Mino Cinelu. Further concerts followed at the Centre Pompidou and at the Paris Museum of Modern Art.
Concerts
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30 March 1985
Air Mail at the Jazzspelunke
Vienna
On Saturday 30 March 1985 Air Mail, with Pepl, Wolfgang Puschnig, Mike Richmond and Wolfgang Reisinger, played at the Jazzspelunke in Vienna. A recording of this evening exists.
Concerts
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12 May 1985
Concert at the Miles Smiles club
Vienna
On the Sunday before the flight to New York, the Jazzzwio played at short notice at the Miles Smiles club in Vienna, with the drummer Georg Polansky. The live recording was released on CD in 2003.
Concerts
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15 May 1985
New York: “Beyond the Sound of Music”
New York
On Wednesday 15 May 1985, Pepl and Pirchner, with Don Moye, played at the Ohio Theater in Soho at the festival “New Austria / New York”. The New York Times reviewed the festival on 18 May.
Concerts
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July 1985
Jazzzwio with Don Moye in Bolzano
Bolzano
Concert by Werner Pirchner, Harry Pepl and Don Moye at the Walther-Haus in Bolzano.
Concerts
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10 October 1985 to 23 October 1985
Jazzzwio concerts in Graz and Kindberg
Graz, Kindberg
Kohler names 10 October 1985 in Graz and 23 October 1985 in Kindberg as the last verifiable concerts of the Jazzzwio. After that their paths parted, and Pirchner turned to composition. A live recording from Niš dated 28 October 1985 is chronologically later still.
Concerts
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28 October 1985
Naissus Jazz 85 in Niš
Niš
The Jazzzwio played live in the hall of the Niš Symphony Orchestra, Yugoslavia, together with Barry Altschul and Walter Schmocker. The piece “The Theme” was released in 1986 on a Diskos compilation.
Concerts
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24 May 1986
Air Mail in St. Gerold
St. Gerold
ORF Studio Vorarlberg recorded a concert by Air Mail in St. Gerold.
Concerts
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10 October 1986
Rava/Saluzzi Quintet with the NDR Bigband
Hamburg
During the European tour, the quintet of Enrico Rava and Dino Saluzzi, with Harry Pepl, played together with the NDR Bigband at the Fabrik in Hamburg-Altona.
Concerts
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13 October 1986
Rava/Saluzzi Quintet at “Jazz in Gütersloh”
Gütersloh
Concert at “Jazz in Gütersloh”, with Bob Moses instead of Bruce Ditmas on drums.
Concerts
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20 April 1988
Cracked Mirrors live at the Posthof Linz
Linz
Concert of the trio Pepl, Joos and Christensen; Christensen was a guest of Pepl's in Hernstein for a considerable time and rehearsed with him.
Concerts
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22 April 1988
Trio Pepl/Joos/Christensen at the Hotel Mader, Katsdorf
Katsdorf
Two days after the concert at the Posthof in Linz, the trio with Herbert Joos and Jon Christensen played at the Hotel Mader in Katsdorf.
Concerts
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December 1988
Joos, Pepl and Oxley at the Dieselstraße in Esslingen
Esslingen am Neckar
At the year-end concert of the series “Jazz in der Dieselstraße”, Pepl played with Herbert Joos and Tony Oxley at the Dieselstraße culture and communication centre in Esslingen; the Stuttgarter Zeitung and the Eßlinger Zeitung reviewed the concert.
Concerts
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10 December 1988 to 17 December 1988
Austrian tour with Herbert Joos and Tony Oxley
Austria
The tour schedule lists Mödling, Wörgl, Nüziders, Klagenfurt, Graz and Mauterndorf. Tony Oxley replaced Jon Christensen, who was unavailable; an ORF recording exists of the concert in Tamsweg on 15 December.
Concerts
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15 December 1988
Trio with Herbert Joos and Tony Oxley in Tamsweg
Tamsweg
On the Austrian tour, the ORF recorded the concert of Harry Pepl, Herbert Joos and Tony Oxley in Tamsweg; Ö1 broadcast the archive find in its Jazznacht in 2015.
Concerts
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1989
Cracked Mirrors at the Stadtgarten in Cologne
Cologne
The trio with Herbert Joos and Jon Christensen played at the Stadtgarten in Cologne, and television recorded the concert.
Concerts
1990s
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7 February 1990
Presentation concert for “Schönberg Improvations”
Vienna
At the Wiener Konzerthaus, Wolfgang Puschnig and Wolfgang Reisinger played live along with the self-playing grand piano; Pepl operated only the sustain pedal.
Concerts
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June 1992
Harry Pepl Quartet at the Knitting Factory
New York
In early June 1992, shortly before the recording of “N.Y.C. Impressure”, the quartet played at the Knitting Factory in New York. The club's invitation gives 2 June, Nikolaus Kohler the day before the recording.
Concerts
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1993
Last Air Mail concert in Raab
Raab, Upper Austria
At the Whitsun jazz festival in Raab, later known as INNtöne, Air Mail played for the last time, with Jean-Paul Celea on bass and the piece “Dinozzo”. A professional recording exists.
Concerts
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1994
Concerts with Labarrière, Jackson and Mitterer
Kyiv, Graz, Vienna
Harry Pepl plays one of his last concert series with Hélène Labarrière (double bass), Gene Jackson (drums) and Wolfgang Mitterer (synthesizer), among other places in Kyiv (Ukraine), there according to Mitterer also with Paul Zauner, probably in Slovakia, in Graz with Wolfgang Puschnig and at Porgy & Bess in Vienna. No recording has survived.
Concerts
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October 1997
INNtöne Festival with Michel Portal
Raab, Upper Austria
In autumn 1997 Pepl played at the festival in Raab with Michel Portal, Wolfgang Reisinger, Franz Hackl and Toninho Horta. According to Daniel Pepl it was his last live concert.
Concerts
2000s
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2004
Salzburger Jazzherbst
Salzburg
Lorenz Raab, Wolfgang Schiftner and Clemens Salesny played live to Pepl's recordings in front of photos by Rainer Rygalyk. There is no live recording, because Pepl rejected an unpaid ORF broadcast.
Concerts
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17 September 2004
“Habanero-Slide-Show” at the Blue Tomato, Vienna
Vienna
First performance of music by the Lonely Single Swinger Band with live musicians and photos by Rainer Rygalyk. Pepl was present at the concerts.
Concerts
2010s
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14 May 2016
INNtöne Jazz Festival 2016
Diersbach
Harry Pepl (tape) with Clemens Salesny, Martin Bayer, Peter Primus Frosch and Agnes Heginger played on Saturday 14 May 2016 at the INNtöne Jazz Festival in Diersbach.
Concerts
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16 November 2018
Single Swinger Band at the Jazzit Salzburg
Salzburg
Under the title “A Tribute To Harry Pepl (tape) & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band”, Clemens Salesny, Martin Bayer, Andi Schreiber and Valentin Duit play with Pepl’s tracks on Friday, 16 November 2018, at the Jazzit in Salzburg, Austria; Markus Wallner is on sound.
Concerts
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25 October 2019
Single Swinger Band at the Porgy & Bess
Porgy & Bess, Vienna
Concert by Harry Pepl (tape) & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band at the Porgy & Bess; recordings from it were released in 2025 on the album “Live”.
Concerts
2020s
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15 July 2020
Single Swinger Band at the Porgy & Bess
Porgy & Bess, Vienna
Concert by Harry Pepl (tape) & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band at the Porgy & Bess; recordings from it were released in 2025 on the album “Live”.
Concerts
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24 October 2020
Single Swinger Band at the Blue Tomato
Blue Tomato, Vienna
Concert by Harry Pepl (tape) & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band at the Blue Tomato in Vienna; recordings from it were released in 2025 on the album “Live”.
Concerts
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26 June 2021
Single Swinger Band at the Bambergsaal Villach
Bambergsaal, Villach
Concert by Harry Pepl (tape) & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band at the Bambergsaal in Villach; recordings from it were released in 2025 on the album “Live”.
Concerts
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30 September 2023
Concert in Syrnau
Syrnau
The band played on Saturday 30 September 2023 at 8.15 pm at the sparkasse.event.raum in Syrnau near Zwettl.
Concerts
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2025
The Kahr and Harms duo plays Pepl
Vienna
In the duo project “Jazz & the City (…and me)”, the pianist and jazz researcher Michael Kahr and the saxophonist Martin Harms interpret repertoire associated with musicians of Viennese jazz, among them Erich Kleinschuster, Vera Auer, Fritz Pauer and Harry Pepl. In 2025 the duo performs at the Kultursommer Wien and records for Ö1.
Concerts
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28 September 2025
Concert at the Porgy & Bess
Vienna
The band, with Salesny, Bayer, Schreiber, Duit and Markus Wallner on sound, played at the Porgy & Bess in Vienna on Sunday 28 September 2025, also as a stream.
Concerts
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December 2025
Single Swinger Band in the Open Music series at the Stockwerk in Graz
Stockwerk, Graz
Concert by Harry Pepl (tape) & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band in the Open Music series at the Stockwerk in Graz; the Kleine Zeitung and the Kronen Zeitung reported on 18 December 2025.
Concerts