Skip to content
Harry Pepl * 1945  † 2005
Contact Sign in

Where Harry Pepl played, from Montreux to New York

Festivals and venues

Harry Pepl's music travelled internationally. With the Jazzzwio, with Air Mail, with Benny Goodman, the Vienna Art Orchestra and the Rava/Saluzzi Quintet he played at the major jazz festivals of Europe, in concert halls and in clubs. On these travels he got to know musicians such as Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell. The overview grows with every new find from the archive.

Festivals

Germany

  • Jazzfest Berlin (international jazz festival of the Berliner Festspiele): 06.11.1981 with the Jazzzwio at the Metropol. That evening the first piece was called “Berlin '81, die Erste” (“Berlin '81, the first”).1 As early as November 1980 Pepl played in Berlin with Benny Goodman.
  • Jazz in Neuwied (jazz festival in Neuwied on the Rhine, Rhineland-Palatinate): June 1982 with Werner Pirchner and Jack DeJohnette. This is where Pepl got to know Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell.2
  • Deutsches Jazzfestival Frankfurt (Germany's oldest jazz festival, organised by Hessischer Rundfunk): 02.10.1982 with the Jazzzwio in the Great Hall of the Alte Oper, with titles such as “Wiener essen Frankfurter” and “Frankfurter essen Wiener” (“Viennese eat frankfurters”, “Frankfurters eat wieners”).1
  • Donaueschinger Musiktage (new music festival of Südwestrundfunk): October 1982 with the Vienna Art Orchestra.
  • Festival Moers (festival for jazz and improvised music on the Lower Rhine): May 1984 with Air Mail.
  • NDR Jazzworkshop (concert series of Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Hamburg): 1984 with Werner Pirchner, Steve Swallow and the Family of Percussion; 10.10.1986 with the Rava/Saluzzi Quintet and the NDR Bigband.3
  • Jazz in Gütersloh (concert series in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia): 13.10.1986 with the Rava/Saluzzi Quintet.

Austria

  • Jazzfestival Saalfelden (international jazz festival in the Salzburg region): September 1980 with the Jazzzwio. Jack DeJohnette spontaneously came on stage, which led to the trio of the 1983 ECM record.
  • Ars Electronica (festival for art, technology and society in Linz): October 1982, “Jazz und Elektronik” (“Jazz and electronics”).
  • steirischer herbst (festival of contemporary art in Graz): several times, including the guest performance in New York in 1985.
  • INNtöne (jazz festival in Upper Austria, then in Raab): 1993 the last concert of Air Mail, 1997 with Michel Portal.
  • Salzburger Jazzherbst (jazz festival in Salzburg): 2004.

Switzerland, France and other countries

  • Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland): 12.07.1981 with the Jazzzwio. The recording was released as the LP “Live, Montreux '81” and is regarded as the first big step of his international career.4
  • Théâtre de la Ville (Paris, France): 22.03.1985. According to his own information sheet, Pepl also played in Paris at the Musée d'Art Moderne and the Centre Pompidou, and with Werner Pirchner at IRCAM (research institute for music and acoustics).5
  • Bratislava Jazz Days (jazz festival in Bratislava, Slovakia): December 1982.
  • Naissus Jazz (jazz festival in Niš, Serbia): October 1985.
  • Bolzano (South Tyrol, Italy): July 1985, Jazzzwio with Don Moye.
  • Kyiv (Ukraine): 1994 with Hélène Labarrière, Gene Jackson and Wolfgang Mitterer, one of his last concert series.
  • Pori Jazz (major jazz festival in Pori, Finland): around 1993/94 with the Abstract Truth band, with John Purcell, Kenny Davis and Ronnie Burrage.6

Abstract Truth at the Pori Jazz Festival

To play it, the video is loaded from YouTube. Data is transferred to YouTube (Google) in the process.

Watch on YouTube

John Purcell, Kenny Davis, Ronnie Burrage and Harry Pepl. YouTube channel Ronnie Burrage.
  • According to Pepl's information sheet also: Edinburgh (Scotland), Warsaw (Poland), Geneva (Switzerland) and Ankara (Turkey).5

USA

  • Beyond the Sound of Music: New Austria/New York (Austrian focus of the steirischer herbst in New York): 15.05.1985, Jazzzwio at the Ohio Theatre.7
  • Knitting Factory (New York club for new jazz): June 1992 with the Harry Pepl Quartet.
In Linz, Austria, in October 1986: in front Enrico Rava on flugelhorn, behind him Dino Saluzzi on bandoneon (left) and Harry Pepl on guitar (right). The album “Volver” was recorded the same month at Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg, Germany.
Enrico Rava, Dino Saluzzi and Harry Pepl, Linz 1986Photo: Felix Nöbauer

Clubs and concert halls

Vienna

  • Jazzspelunke (jazz club in the Dürergasse, Mariahilf): late 1980 or early 1981 with Werner Pirchner and Jack DeJohnette; 30.03.1985 with Air Mail. At a concert in a quartet with Pirchner, Marc Johnson and Joris Dudli, Pat Metheny came specially to the packed club to hear Pepl.8
  • Titanic (club in the Theobaldgasse, Mariahilf): with Air Mail; the evening the power failed and Pepl played Wes Montgomery acoustically by candlelight became legendary.9
  • Miles Smiles (jazz club in the Lange Gasse, Josefstadt): 12.05.1985 with the Jazzzwio, released in 2003 as “Live At Miles Smiles”.
  • Wiener Musikverein (concert hall of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde): 16.03.1989 with the Ensemble Wien, 06.05.1993 premiere of the string quartet “Über Kurz oder Lang” by the Artis Quartet, 10.03.1996 recording of the piano album “Flow” in the Brahms Hall.
  • Funkhaus Wien (ORF broadcasting house): 25.09.1975 with Hip Jargon and Werner Pirchner.
  • Blue Tomato (jazz club in the 15th district): 17.09.2004 “Habanero-Slide-Show”.
  • Porgy & Bess (Vienna jazz club): since 2018 the stage of the Lonely Single Swinger Band, most recently on 28.09.2025.

Other places in Austria

  • Graz: Austria Drei (1982), Schlachthof with Portal Unit (1984), concert with Friedrich Gulda (1979), Tube's (2018), Stockwerk (2025).
  • Linz: February 1985 with Air Mail and October 1986 with the Rava/Saluzzi Quintet, in the month “Volver” was recorded (photos: Felix Noebauer)10; Posthof (arts centre, 20.04.1988, Cracked Mirrors live).
Harry Pepl on guitar at a concert with Air Mail in Linz, Austria, in February 1985.
Harry Pepl with Air Mail, Linz 1985Photo: Felix Nöbauer
  • Salzburg: Elisabethbühne (22.01.1984, with Pirchner and Michael Di Pasqua), Jazzit (2018).
  • Innsbruck: Konservatoriumssaal (25.03.1984, Jazzzwio).
  • Tamsweg, Katsdorf, Kindberg, St. Gerold, Villach and Bleiburg: concerts with Herbert Joos, Tony Oxley, Jon Christensen, the Jazzzwio and Air Mail, and after 2018 with the Lonely Single Swinger Band.

Germany

  • Kölner Stadtgarten (jazz club and concert venue in Cologne): 1989 with the trio Pepl, Joos, Christensen; the concert was recorded for television.
  • Dieselstraße Esslingen (cultural centre in Esslingen am Neckar): December 1988 with Herbert Joos and Tony Oxley.
  • Berliner Philharmonie: according to Pepl's information sheet.5

All dated performances are also listed in the chronicle. Is a festival, a club or a poster missing? We welcome hints via Contribute.

Notes and sources (10)
  1. Kohler 2006, p. 86, after an archive extract from Hessischer Rundfunk and the setlist in the Rockpalast archive. ↩
  2. Kohler 2006, p. 87; photo “Jazz in Neuwied, June 1982” from the estate. ↩
  3. Kohler 2006, p. 87 (archive extract of the NDR Bigband; Jazzlive no. 14, September 1984, p. 16); Kohler 2006, pp. 101 to 102. ↩
  4. Wochenpresse, 1988, p. 1; Live In Concerts, liner notes 2009. ↩
  5. Harry Pepl, information sheet “Infos Harry Pepl” with biography, list of works and Instant Composing, 1996, pp. 1 to 3. ↩
  6. Daniel Pepl, oral communication, 16.10.2026; video on Ronnie Burrage’s YouTube channel; Pepl’s information sheet 1996, pp. 1 to 3. ↩
  7. Letter from the steirischer herbst to Harry Pepl, 25.03.1985; New York Times, 18.05.1985. ↩
  8. Kohler 2006, p. 87 (interview 1-38); Thomas Palme, memory posted on Facebook, 10.09.2026. ↩
  9. Memory of a listener posted on Facebook for Pepl's 81st birthday, 10.09.2026. ↩
  10. Felix Noebauer, photos on Facebook, 20.08.2026 and 10.09.2026 (Linz, February 1985, Air Mail; Linz, October 1986, Enrico Rava, Dino Saluzzi, Harry Pepl), shared by ECM Records. ↩

Last updated: 16 Oct 2026