Life

There is so much: when I start telling it, everything comes crashing down on my head, all the sounds, all the notes, the music and the experiences, actually the whole world!

Vienna and the early years

Harry Pepl was born in Vienna on 10 September 1945 and grew up in Floridsdorf.² At home, people listened to jazz as readily as to opera and Viennese song (Wienerlied). His father was a „Riesen-Jazzfan“ [“huge jazz fan”] who listened to Count Basie, his grandmother preferred Schrammel music; according to the Kleine Zeitung, his father whistled him the standards that the occupation radio played.³ At seven Pepl was given an accordion. At eight, at an accordion world championship, he heard a Yugoslav musician improvise; he later called it the „Kick zum Improvisieren“ [“the kick to improvise”].⁴ Playing from sheet music soon lost its appeal; he began to play freely and learned the piano at a Viennese music school.⁵

At 13 he bought himself a guitar for a hundred schillings.⁶ He listened to records by Tal Farlow and Johnny Smith, then by Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall and Barney Kessel, and played along until every note, phrasing included, was in place; sheet music for this kind of music hardly existed at the time. His „Fernstudium“ [“distance learning”] with Jim Hall and Wes Montgomery, as it was later put, consisted of records.⁷ By day he wrote arrangements for dance music; after the evening's performances he practised the solos of Jim Hall and Wes Montgomery until the early hours.⁸ He studied classical guitar in Karl Scheit's class at the music academy in Vienna; for the entrance examination he played Mozart's “Turkish March” with a plectrum.⁹

In the early 1960s he played with the Austrian Evergreens, a Viennese dance and beat band that the Kleine Zeitung calls the “Austrian Aces”. In 1962 the single “Susi-Twist / Tabu” appeared, followed in 1964 by “Skinny Minny / Olymp” with his composition “Olymp” on the B-side. He toured with the band and accompanied Josephine Baker in Seefeld.¹⁰ At the jazz department of the Vienna Conservatory he met the pianist Peter Ponger in the early 1970s, with whom he played in a quartet at the Fledermausbar in Vienna.¹¹ In the 1970s Pepl was in demand in studios, toured with Peter Alexander, played with Toni Stricker and André Heller and was guitarist and soloist of the ORF Big Band; in 1976 the band's LP “Leave Me” was released with him as soloist.¹² He did not set much store by the boundaries between entertainment and jazz: „Mir ist das Wurscht, daß das Jazz heißt“ [“I don't care that it's called jazz”], he told the Wochenpresse in 1988.¹³

ORF Big Band and Harry Pepl, 1976

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At the same time he was searching for a jazz of his own: in the Harald Neuwirth Konsort, in the Erich Kleinschuster Sextet, in Albert Mair's Conception M, with his trio Hip Jargon and in Martin Mumelter's Concertodrom, which in 1975 brought classical musicians and improvisers together and travelled as far as the Edinburgh Festival.¹⁴ Around 1975 he played in a duo with Lee Konitz at a concert. This, he said, was „der erste Impuls“ [“the first impulse”] for him „so frei zu machen“ [“to free himself up in that way”].¹⁵ With the teaching post at the music academy in Graz, which he took up in 1977, he left studio work behind; the section on his years as a teacher tells that story.¹⁶

Jazzzwio and Austria Drei

Pepl brought the vibraphonist Werner Pirchner into his quartet Hip Jargon in 1975. During a break in rehearsals the two played “Stella by Starlight” as a duo and realised at once how well they sounded together. This became the Jazzzwio, which according to JazzEcho was Pepl's most important project.¹⁷ Guitar and vibraphone, without bass or drums: Joachim-Ernst Berendt found „dass der Sound Vibrafon/Gitarre noch reizvoller ist als der Vibrafon/Piano-Klang“ [“that the sound of vibraphone and guitar is even more appealing than the sound of vibraphone and piano”].¹⁸ Der Standard wrote that the duo had caused „international zwischen Berlin und Montreux mit einer subtilen und intensiven Form der Kammermusik Furore“ [“a sensation internationally, between Berlin and Montreux, with a subtle and intense form of chamber music”].¹⁹ Runo Ericksson wrote about Pepl and Pirchner in the liner notes to his LP “Omnibus”: “they play like two people in love with each other”.²⁰ On 1 and 2 December 1979 the duo recorded the album “Gegenwind” in a small studio on the Bisamberg near Vienna; it was released by Mood Records in Stuttgart.²¹

On 12 July 1981 the Jazzzwio played at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Pepl had been called to the telephone in Graz during a lesson and had agreed to appear in the guitar programme, but only as a duo with Pirchner. „Die waren alle begeistert. Eine Sensation eigentlich“ [“They were all delighted. A sensation, actually”], he told the Wochenpresse, which called the evening the first major step in his international career.²² The live recording was released by WEA as “Live, Montreux 1981”. In January 2009 Universal reissued the recordings from Montreux and Innsbruck (1984), together with a video directed by Daniel Pepl, as “Live in Concerts”. The Kurier called Pepl and Pirchner „zwei originelle heimische Musiker, die beide viel zu früh gehen mussten und unvergessen sind“ [“two original Austrian musicians who both had to go far too early and are unforgotten”]; the Kronen Zeitung wrote: „Wenn es Klassiker des österreichischen Jazz gibt, hier ist einer!“ [“If there are classics of Austrian jazz, here is one!”]²³

Jazzzwio live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, 12 July 1981 (part 1)

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Jazzzwio live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, 12 July 1981 (part 2)

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Alongside this, Pepl played in the quartet Austria Drei with Pirchner, the bassist Adelhard Roidinger and the drummer Todd Canedy, which recorded its only album in Munich in July 1979. He had originally written the piece “Boo Bop” on it for four guitars from his Graz class.²⁴ From 1979 to 1982 he was a guest with the Vienna Art Orchestra, in 1980 he played in The String Summit at the New Jazz Meeting in Baden-Baden, and there were also Runo Ericksson's Omnibus, The Loss and Adelhard Roidinger's ECM album “Schattseite” (recorded in 1981).²⁵

At the Saalfelden festival in September 1980, Jack DeJohnette spontaneously joined in during a performance by the Jazzzwio. In June 1982 Pirchner, Pepl and DeJohnette recorded an album with the producer Manfred Eicher at Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg, released by ECM in 1983; Pepl's composition “Air, Love & Vitamins” can be heard on it for the first time.²⁶ „Das ist das erste Mal, dass wir wirklich über die Mauer schauen“ [“This is the first time that we are really looking over the wall”], Pepl told the magazine Jazzlive at the time.²⁷ Like “Cracked Mirrors” later, the record was awarded the German Record Critics' Award (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik).²⁸ In May 1985 the duo, with Don Moye on drums, played at the festival “Beyond the Sound of Music: New Austria / New York”, on which the New York Times reported. The last documented concerts took place in October 1985, with Barry Altschul on drums and Walter Schmocker on bass, among them on 28 October at the jazz festival in Niš, which was captured on the LP “Naissus Jazz 85”; Pirchner then turned to composition, and the two went their separate ways by mutual agreement.²⁹

He was an amazing guitarist, pianist and composer. His harmonic, rhythmic and sound concepts were very unique!

Jazzzwio at the Naissus Jazz Festival in Niš, 28 October 1985

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With Benny Goodman

In 1980 and 1981 Pepl played in Benny Goodman's band. In November 1980 Goodman brought him in for two concerts at the Berlin Philharmonie, with Don Haas on piano, Peter Witte on bass and Charly Antolini on drums. “Harry Pepl's Blues” came about spontaneously at the rehearsal; the recordings were released in 1996 as “Berlin 1980”.³¹

With Goodman he also appeared in front of the television cameras, for example in “René Kollo: Ich lade gern mir Gäste ein” (“I like to invite guests”), the gala show in which the opera star René Kollo, celebrated Wagner tenor of the Bayreuth Festival, welcomed international stars on German ZDF television from 1978 to 1984. The German-Austrian production often aired over the Christmas holidays, at a time when there were only three television channels. In 1981 in Rome the quartet recorded jazz versions of the main theme for Dino Risi's film “Fantasma d'Amore” starring Romy Schneider and Marcello Mastroianni, with a score by Riz Ortolani. In September 1981 the band appeared at the Tivoli in Copenhagen; the television recording has survived.³²

Benny Goodman at the Tivoli, Copenhagen, September 1981

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For Goodman, Pepl played with a small amplifier, without reverb or delay, „wie der Großvater von Charlie Christian“ [“like Charlie Christian's grandfather”]. It had not been his music, he said, but „ein Riesenerlebnis“ [“a tremendous experience”]. He turned down a further concert in Vienna.³³ Goodman sent him a photograph with the dedication “To Harry, a great guitarist, my best, Benny”.³⁴

ECM, Air Mail and the Portal Unit

At the suggestion of the drummer Wolfgang Reisinger, Air Mail, Pepl's US-Austrian band, came into being in 1983. By the autumn of 1983 the line-up was settled: Pepl, Wolfgang Puschnig (alto saxophone, flute), the American bassist Mike Richmond, specially flown in and the man after whom the band is named, and Reisinger.³⁵ The breakthrough came at the Moers festival in May 1984. It was followed by “Prayer for Peace” (Moers Music, recorded in February 1985) and “Light Blues”, recorded live in Wels in July 1987, released by Amadeo in 1988 and reissued by Universal in 2001.³⁶ Air Mail rehearsed „wie eine Popband“ [“like a pop band”]: the themes were played to the others rather than written down and practised in unison until they were secure. „Da haben wir wirklich ziemlich verrückt geübt“ [“We really practised like crazy”], said Pepl.³⁷ Puschnig and Reisinger played with him for seven years; Puschnig said in retrospect: „Ich habe einfach seine musikalische Sprache gelernt.“ [“I simply learned his musical language.”]³⁸ Air Mail's last concert took place in 1993 at the festival in Raab.³⁹

Air Mail live at the Amiens jazz festival, 1986

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From 1984 Pepl played with the French clarinettist and saxophonist Michel Portal: first on 23 September 1984 at the Schlachthof in Graz with George Lewis, Joachim Kühn, Jean-François Jenny-Clark and Daniel Humair, then in Paris at the Théâtre de la Ville and the Centre Pompidou, and at French festivals. He can be heard on Portal's studio album “Turbulence” and on “Men's Land”, recorded live in Amiens in May 1987 with Dave Liebman, Jenny-Clark, Jack DeJohnette and Mino Cinelu.⁴⁰ Le Monde called him a „Giganten der Improvisation“ [“giant of improvisation”].⁴¹ In October 1986 he recorded the ECM album “Volver” with the quintet of Enrico Rava and Dino Saluzzi, including his piece “Ballantine for Valentine”, and went on a three-month European tour with the band.⁴²

For “Cracked Mirrors”, his own ECM album, Pepl played with the flugelhorn player Herbert Joos in a studio in the Wachau in February 1987; Jon Christensen added the drums afterwards in Oslo. The impetus and the advance funding came from the Graz promoter Heimo Steps.⁴³ The album was released on 30 May 1988. It is the first on which Pepl makes defining use of the MIDI guitar, and it received the German Record Critics' Award.⁴⁴ ECM announced three musicians „die auch in avancierten Spieltechniken mit viel Sinnlichkeit und Wärme zu improvisieren imstande sind“ [“who are capable of improvising with great sensuousness and warmth even in advanced playing techniques”]; one review identified Pepl as „einen der innovativsten Gitarristen des gesamteuropäischen Raumes“ [“one of the most innovative guitarists of the whole European region”].⁴⁵ After the concert at the Posthof in Linz in April 1988, Robert Urman wrote of a „Trio der Extraklasse“ [“top-class trio”].⁴⁶ In December 1988 the trio, with Tony Oxley on drums, toured Austria and played at the Dieselstraße in Esslingen, where the Eßlinger Zeitung marvelled that Pepl played „ein fulminantes Schlagzeugsolo auf der Gitarre“ [“a spectacular drum solo on the guitar”].⁴⁷ „Der österreichische Musiker Harry Pepl ist ein international gefragter Mann“ [“The Austrian musician Harry Pepl is a man in demand internationally”], wrote the Wochenpresse.⁴⁸

Harry Pepl, Herbert Joos and Jon Christensen at the Stadtgarten in Cologne, 1989

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Colleagues from the USA held him in high regard. John Scofield said of him: “He is one of my favourites”, John Abercrombie: “He's great, he's like a machine gun.” He knew Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell personally, from the Jazz in Neuwied festival and from concerts and workshops for the NDR. He once helped Frisell out with strings at a gig.⁴⁹ Years later, according to Porgy & Bess, guitarists such as Abercrombie and Scofield still always asked the same question: “And how is Harry?”⁵⁰

Composer

In the late 1980s Pepl came to the fore as a composer for chamber ensembles. He called his method Real-time Composing or Instant Composing: he improvised on the MIDI guitar voice by voice, had the result printed out as a score and did not revise it afterwards. In 1990 the programme booklet of the Musikverein spoke of a process in which „das Werk in dem Augenblick, in welchem es erfunden wurde, auch schon schriftlich fixiert ist“ [“the work is already set down in writing at the very moment in which it was invented”]. His way of working is described on a separate page on Real-time Composing.⁵¹

In the moment when I make music or compose with inspiration, which for me is one and the same, I believe in the absolute: in the truth in which all opposites coincide.

On 16 March 1989 the Ensemble Wien performed his “Ballade for Mr. Dinozo”, dedicated to Dino Saluzzi, in the Brahms-Saal of the Musikverein; on 14 December 1989 “Grogos” followed there, a commission from the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde.⁵³ On 27 February 1990 the Ensemble Kontrapunkte under Peter Keuschnig devoted a composer portrait to him in the Brahms-Saal; Pepl himself played guitar with a MIDI system, and the piano sound came from a Bösendorfer 290 SE computer grand piano.⁵⁴ In February 1991 Thomas Larcher played seven of his works in the ORF Tyrol studio.⁵⁵ On 3 December 1991 the Kronos Quartet gave the world premieres of “Moving Navel”, “String Quartet No. 8” and “Obsession” at the Orpheum in Graz, arranged through Heimo Steps.⁵⁶ For STUDIO PERCUSSION graz he wrote “Anspannen, Überspannen, Abspannen” for percussion ensemble and tape, premiered on 11 March 1992 at the Orpheum.⁵⁷ On 6 May 1993 the Artis Quartet played in the Brahms-Saal the string quartet “Über kurz oder lang, von der Weite und der Enge”, written that February. „Darf man von Pepl nur das Unerwartete erwarten“ [“May one expect only the unexpected from Pepl”], the programme booklet quoted a review. The Kurier thought the „fragile, Trauer vermittelnde Werk“ [“fragile work conveying sorrow”], placed between Beethoven and Brahms, was „als Sandwich-Einlage zu schade“ [“too good to serve as a sandwich filling”]. During a quiet passage a thunderstorm set in outside: „Es war eine unglaubliche Stimmung, als auf einmal das Rauschen des Regens einsetzte.“ [“The atmosphere was incredible when all of a sudden the sound of the rain set in.”]⁵⁸

The album “Schönberg Improvations” was made in Vienna in November 1989. Pepl played the piano parts into a Bösendorfer 290 SE via the MIDI guitar, first the left hand, then the right; Dave Liebman, Wolfgang Reisinger and Johannes Enders joined him. At the presentation concert at the Vienna Konzerthaus on 7 February 1990 the grand piano played by itself, with Pepl operating only the sustain pedal. „Musikalischer Quantensprung“ [“Musical quantum leap”], judged the magazine Tschin Bumm.⁵⁹ In 2004, in the liner notes to the CD edition, Andreas Felber called the record the „bisher kompromissloseste Dokument seines Prinzips des Instant Composing“ [“most uncompromising document to date of his principle of Instant Composing”].⁶⁰

In June 1992 his quartet with Claus Stötter, Paul Nowinski and Jojo Mayer played in New York at the invitation of the Knitting Factory and recorded “N.Y.C. Impressure” the day after. „Mir fiel selber an mir auf, daß ich dort völlig anders spiele als daheim“ [“I noticed about myself that I play completely differently there than at home”], Pepl told the magazine Jazzlive.⁶¹ In May 1994 the Salzburger Nachrichten judged that the record „zum Aufregendsten zählt, das in den letzten Jahren hierzulande produziert worden ist“ [“is among the most exciting things produced in this country in recent years”], and in December named it the Austrian jazz album of the year, in its author's view. In Der Standard, Ljubiša Tošić heard a phrasing that was „reizvoll und angenehm unberechenbar“ [“appealing and pleasantly unpredictable”], and the Kronen Zeitung wrote: „Die Wandlungsfähigkeit gehört zu Pepl wie die Hinwendung zu verschiedenen (Komponier-)Techniken.“ [“Versatility is part of Pepl, as is the turn to different (composing) techniques.”]⁶² The State of Lower Austria honoured him with culture prizes for music in 1991 and 1998; in 1998 the Kurier introduced him as „Gitarrist und Pianist von Weltruf aus Hernstein“ [“guitarist and pianist of world renown from Hernstein”].⁶³

New Yorkers are flabbergasted every time they hear that I come from the Austrian mountains.

Teacher in Graz

In 1976 the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz, today's University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, offered Pepl the leadership of its training class in jazz guitar. He accepted and in 1977 ended his contract with the ORF Big Band: „Ich entschied mich, zu unterrichten, und nur noch wirklich Jazz zu spielen, und den Kommerz und das Studio als Job hinter mir zu lassen.“ [“I decided to teach and to play nothing but real jazz from then on, and to leave commerce and the studio as a job behind me.”]⁶⁵ In 1984 he became a full university professor. He taught until the mid-1990s.⁶⁶ „Der Gitarreprofessor zu Graz gilt international als einer der besten seines Faches“ [“The guitar professor in Graz is regarded internationally as one of the best in his field”], wrote the Kleine Zeitung in 1988.⁶⁷

Teaching was itself a source of ideas for him: „Durch das ständige Vorspielen machte ich mir immer selber Gedanken, was man da noch machen könnte.“ [“By constantly playing for the students I kept thinking for myself about what else one could do there.”]⁶⁸ To his students he passed on this advice: „Wichtig ist, die individuelle Linie zu finden, dazu heißt es üben, üben, üben.“ [“What matters is to find your own individual line, and for that it's practise, practise, practise.”]⁶⁹ Guido Jeszenszky, who began studying with him in 1977, remembers a teacher who turned up with a different guitar each time, was forever searching for sounds and played for almost the whole lesson.⁷⁰ In May 1982 Larry Coryell came to the Graz jazz academy and played a jam session with Pepl, „von dem er sehr beeindruckt war“ [“by whom he was very impressed”], as the Steirerkrone reported.⁷¹ Pepl's students included Wolfgang Muthspiel, Peter Havlicek, Guido Jeszenszky, Alex Machacek, Helmut Weinhandl and Johannes Enders; Gerald Gradwohl said in 2017 that Pepl had taught and inspired him.⁷² In 2022 Wolfgang Muthspiel remembered his teacher as “an important guitar player” with a unique sound and a great sense of time, to him an international figure with a voice of his own.⁷³ The Viennese guitarist Andy Manndorff, a close friend, came to him privately and later said Pepl had been „der einzige Lehrer, der mir etwas beibringen konnte“ [“the only teacher who could teach me anything”].⁷⁴ Outside Graz, the Vienna Master Courses list him among their faculty since 1975 for jazz guitar.⁷⁵ JazzEcho saw in him „mit seiner eigenwilligen Vorstellung von Harmonisierungen, Melodieführungen, Sound und Rhythmik eine wichtige Stilalternative zum afroamerikanischen Modell“ [“with his idiosyncratic ideas of harmonisation, melodic lines, sound and rhythm, an important stylistic alternative to the Afro-American model”].⁷⁶ After his death the rector, Otto Kolleritsch, called him a „begnadeten Gitarristen“ [“truly gifted guitarist”] and an „Ausnahmeerscheinung“ [“exceptional figure”].⁷⁷ For the great jazz musicians who came to Graz he was, according to Heimo Steps, “Mister Graz”.⁷⁸

I feel committed to musical truthfulness, and I think and play on several rhythmic levels.

The home studio in Hernstein and the Lonely Single Swinger Band

Around 1980 Pepl moved to Hernstein in Lower Austria and set up a recording studio in the cellar of his house, later called the „Bergwerk“ [“the mine”].⁸⁰ „Ich will möglichst alles selber machen“ [“I want to do as much as possible myself”], he told the Kronen Zeitung in 1994 about his studio.⁸¹ From the mid-1990s he performed only rarely and moved his work there entirely. This period also saw two piano albums: “Consequence”, freely improvised in November 1995 at the Bösendorfer factory in Vienna and not released until 2020, and “Flow”, recorded in a single take in the Brahms-Saal on 10 March 1996 and released on PAO Records.⁸² „Ich wollte, daß man auf der CD auch den Raum hört“ [“I wanted you to hear the room on the CD as well”], he told the magazine Concerto about “Flow”.⁸³ „Beim Klavierspielen genieße ich die große Freiheit“ [“When I play the piano I enjoy great freedom”], he wrote in 1995.⁸⁴

It was in the studio that what Pepl called “Harry Pepl's Lonely Single Swinger Band” came into being: a band in which he played all the instruments himself. He usually began with the drums, then added guitar, a bass sample via the MIDI guitar, piano and scat vocals, track by track, each part improvised in response to what was already there.⁸⁵ He played, as he put it, „ohne irgendeinen Bezugspunkt eines Metronoms in einer gewissen time, einer Akkordfolge oder einer Melodie“ [“without any point of reference such as a metronome in a certain time, a chord progression or a melody”]. He explained the name by saying that „alle Stücke irgendwie Single sind und traurig, und swingen oder nicht swingen tuts auch“ [“all the pieces are somehow single and sad, and they swing, or they don't swing, as well”].⁸⁶ Between 1995 and 2005 he recorded music there „kiloweise“ [“by the kilo”], as Daniel Pepl told the magazine Concerto, catalogued it and rated many pieces with three to five stars, from „so ok“ [“just OK”] to „leiwand“ [“brilliant”]; he burned a selection onto CDs such as the “Weihnachts-CD 1999”.⁸⁷

In 2004 this music reached the stage for the first time: at the Blue Tomato in Vienna and at the Salzburger Jazzherbst, Clemens Salesny, Wolfgang Schiftner and Lorenz Raab improvised to his recordings while the photographer Rainer Rygalyk showed pictures; Pepl was present. Rygalyk called Salzburg his last major public appearance.⁸⁸ Harry Pepl died on 5 December 2005 in Wiener Neustadt, at the age of 60.⁸⁹

Der Standard wrote in its obituary that Pepl „gehörte in seiner aktiven Phase zu den bedeutendsten Gitarristen weltweit“ [“was, in his active phase, one of the most important guitarists in the world”]. For JazzEcho he was „einer der prägenden Instrumentalisten der europäischen Jazzszene“ [“one of the defining instrumentalists of the European jazz scene”], for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung „einer der anregendsten Stilisten auf dem akustischen wie dem elektrischen Instrument“ [“one of the most stimulating stylists on the acoustic as well as the electric instrument”]. Citing a report by the ORF, the neue musikzeitung counted him among the musicians „die den österreichischen Jazz national und international geprägt und beeinflußt haben“ [“who have shaped and influenced Austrian jazz nationally and internationally”]. Die Presse wrote: „Im äußerlich so introvertiert wirkenden Virtuosen brodelte es, wenn er spielte.“ [“Within the virtuoso who seemed so introverted on the outside, something was seething when he played.”]⁹⁰

Legacy

In September 2006 Nikolaus Kohler submitted the first academic study of Pepl at the University of Vienna, for which he had still been able to interview him in person.⁹¹ In the same autumn the Graz promoter gamsbART, as part of the Austrian Soundcheck, awarded the Harry Pepl Prize for young musicians for the first time, as a scholarship from the City of Graz worth 5,000 euros; later prizewinners include Clemens Salesny and Stefan Heckel. For Otmar Klammer, Pepl was „ein unverbesserlicher musikalischer Visionär“ [“an incorrigible musical visionary”], and the Kleine Zeitung ended its report with „Hut ab vor Harry P.!“ [“Hats off to Harry P.!”]⁹² On 6 December 2006 musicians performed “A Tribute to Harry Pepl” at Porgy & Bess in Vienna, with the proceeds going to the administration of the estate.⁹³ In March 2007 Deutschlandfunk devoted an episode of its series “Milestones”, on classics of jazz history, to him.⁹⁴

In 2007 Christian Muthspiel dedicated the album “Against the Wind” to the music of Pirchner and Pepl; Wolfgang Muthspiel had already named an album after “Air, Love & Vitamins” in 2004.⁹⁵ The piece is still played today: in 2025 the Munich-based vibraphonist Tim Collins and the pianist Martin Gasselsberger recorded it for their duo album “Songs From The Treehouse”.⁹⁶ The Danish Kresten Osgood Quintet played Pepl's “The Halley's Comet Light Blue Blues” at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival in 2023; the album “Live At H15 Studio” was honoured as jazz release of the year at the Danish Music Awards Jazz 2024.⁹⁷

The estate is managed by his son Daniel Pepl, who produces the releases on Fullmax Recordings. To mark the tenth anniversary of his death, the double CD “Harry Pepl & Clemens Salesny / Martin Bayer / Peter Primus Frosch / Agnes Heginger” appeared in 2015, bringing Pepl's tracks from the home studio together with live-recorded instruments.⁹⁸ Since 2018 Clemens Salesny, Martin Bayer, Andi Schreiber and Valentin Duit have been playing on stage with Pepl's original tracks. „Jetzt wird es wieder live erlebbar. Ich denke, das ist in Europa einzigartig“ [“Now it can be experienced live again. I think that is unique in Europe”], says Daniel Pepl.⁹⁹ The album “Harry Pepl (tape) & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band: Live” was released in 2025 to mark his 80th birthday and took second place at the Austrian Jazz Award 2025 in the category best jazz album of the year (Projects).¹⁰⁰ After the concert at the Stockwerk in Graz in December 2025, the Kronen Zeitung wrote: „Aus Archivmaterial entstehen die Schemen eines Lebenden.“ [“From archive material emerge the shadowy outlines of a living man.”] The Kleine Zeitung heard „ein überraschend lebendiges, hochmusikalisches Ergebnis“ [“a surprisingly lively, highly musical result”].¹⁰¹ Ö1 devoted a jazz night to him for each of his 70th and 80th birthdays.¹⁰² In 2019 and 2020 Fullmax Recordings also released recordings from the estate and reissues, among them “Consequence” and “N.Y.C. Impressure”.¹⁰³ In 2024 Stefan Heckel completed his dissertation “Instant Composing” on Pepl's late work at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.¹⁰⁴

Harry Pepl (tape) & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band, short documentary

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A large part of the home-studio recordings has not yet been gone through. How the estate is being catalogued and who is given access is described on the Archive page; the individual milestones are listed in the Chronology. The newspaper articles, obituaries and programme booklets cited are listed in the Press archive.

The Harry Pepl Prize

Between 2006 and 2015 the Graz promoter gamsbART awarded the Harry Pepl Prize five times as part of the Austrian Soundcheck in Graz, Austria, initially as a scholarship from the City of Graz for musicians under 30.¹⁰⁵ Several of the winners have stayed close to Pepl's music: Schiftner and Salesny had already played live along to his recordings at the Salzburger Jazzherbst in 2004, Salesny now leads the live formation Harry Pepl (tape) & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band, and in 2024 Heckel wrote his dissertation on Pepl's late work.

• 2006: Wolfgang Schiftner, saxophone¹⁰⁶
• 2008: Daniel Riegler, trombone and composition¹⁰⁷
• 2010: Stefan Heckel, piano, accordion and composition¹⁰⁸
• 2013: Clemens Salesny, alto saxophone¹⁰⁹
• 2015: Viola Falb, saxophone and composition, the first woman to receive the prize¹¹⁰

No later presentation is documented.¹¹¹

Notes and sources (111)

1. Harry Pepl in conversation with Nikolaus Kohler, 2005, quoted in Kohler 2006, p. 150; former website harrypepl.com. ↩
2. Wochenpresse no. 49, 09.12.1988, p. 55 (Wolfgang Kralicek, “Saitensprünge”); neue musikzeitung, citing ORF, December 2005 (“Jazz-Gitarrist Harry Pepl gestorben”). Baptismal name Harald (Kleine Zeitung, 10.01.1988, p. 18, Otmar Klammer, “Feldzug mit der Gitarre”; Heckel 2024, p. 10). In its obituary of 08.12.2005 the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung gave 1944 as the year of birth instead. ↩
3. Concerto 2/1998 (Martin Schuster, interview “Man könnte Klavierspielen müssen”); Musikergilde, 19.12.2005 (Peter Paul Skrepek, “Harry Pepl, ein Nachruf”); Kleine Zeitung, 10.01.1988, p. 18; Kohler 2006, pp. 22 and 24 f. ↩
4. Kleine Zeitung, 10.01.1988, p. 18; former website harrypepl.com; Kohler 2006, p. 22 f. ↩
5. Kleine Zeitung, 10.01.1988, p. 18; Kohler 2006, p. 23. ↩
6. Kleine Zeitung, 10.01.1988, p. 18. Kohler 2006 (p. 23) gives his age as 15. ↩
7. Kleine Zeitung, 10.01.1988, p. 18; Musikergilde, 19.12.2005; former website harrypepl.com; Kohler 2006, p. 24 f.; Heckel 2024, pp. 66 and 69. ↩
8. Concerto 2/1998; Die Presse, December 2005, p. 34 (“Er musste spielen”). ↩
9. Musikergilde, 19.12.2005; Die Presse, December 2005, p. 34, and the Kleine Zeitung, 10.01.1988, p. 18, additionally mention the conservatory and the music academy in Vienna; the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 08.12.2005, p. 39, mentions the music academy. On the entrance examination: Kohler 2006, p. 24. ↩
10. Kleine Zeitung, 10.01.1988, p. 18; singles “Susi-Twist / Tabu” (Rex Roval 35-6080, 1962, Discogs) and “Skinny Minny / Olymp” (Rex Royal 35-6105, 1964); Kohler 2006, p. 26 f. ↩
11. Kleine Zeitung, 10.01.1988, p. 18; Kohler 2006, p. 27. ↩
12. Kurier, 03.11.1998, p. 10; Musikergilde, 19.12.2005 (Peter Paul Skrepek encountered him in 1974 as the first guitarist of the ORF Big Band); Kohler 2006, p. 28. ↩
13. Wochenpresse no. 49, 09.12.1988, p. 55. ↩
14. Der Standard, 06.12.2005, p. 25 (Ljubiša Tošić, obituary), and Die Presse, December 2005, p. 34 (Erich Kleinschuster); former website harrypepl.com (Harald Neuwirth); Kohler 2006, pp. 29 to 35. ↩
15. Kohler 2006, p. 30. The obituaries in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Die Presse also mention Lee Konitz. ↩
16. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 08.12.2005, p. 39; neue musikzeitung, citing ORF, December 2005. ↩
17. JazzEcho, 07.12.2005 (“Ade Harry Pepl!”); Kohler 2006, pp. 35 f. and 70 f. The sources date the beginning of the duo differently: Kohler 1975/76, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and JazzEcho 1977. ↩
18. Quoted in Jazz thing, 08.12.2005 (“Gestorben: Harry Pepl”). ↩
19. Der Standard, 06.12.2005, p. 25. ↩
20. Liner notes to the LP “Runo Ericksson's Omnibus” (Four Leaf Records), quoted in Kohler 2006, p. 49. ↩
21. Back cover of the LP “Gegenwind” (Mood Records, Stuttgart, order no. 23999); Kohler 2006, pp. 70 f. and 74. The sources give 1979 and 1980 as the year of release. ↩
22. Wochenpresse no. 49, 09.12.1988, p. 54 f.; Kohler 2006, pp. 76 to 78. Date and venue according to the database of the Montreux Jazz Festival. ↩
23. Concerto 2/2009, p. 44 (Thomas Hein, “Jazzzwio, ein markanter Name, bis heute”); Kurier, 18.01.2009, p. 38; Kronen Zeitung, 20.03.2009, p. 36. ↩
24. LP “Austria Drei” (EGO Records, 1979); Kohler 2006, pp. 41 to 44. ↩
25. JazzEcho, 07.12.2005 (Vienna Art Orchestra); Kohler 2006, pp. 45 to 50 and 63 to 70. ↩
26. Kohler 2006, pp. 78 to 82. ↩
27. Jazzlive no. 1, July 1983, p. 7 (“Erster Blick über die Mauer”), quoted in Kohler 2006, p. 82. ↩
28. Kohler 2006, p. 79 (quarterly list). The programme booklet of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien of 06.05.1993 and the Kurier, 03.11.1998, p. 10, speak of two German Record Critics' Awards. ↩
29. New York Times, 18.05.1985 (according to Zlabinger 2013); LP “Naissus Jazz 85” (Diskos, 1986); Kohler 2006, pp. 85 to 90; Heckel 2024, p. 84. ↩
30. Jack DeJohnette, statement for Ö1 on Harry Pepl's 75th birthday, September 2020 (archive of Daniel Pepl); Ö1, “Der unvergessene Jazzgitarrist Harry Pepl”, 25.09.2020. ↩
31. Der Standard, 06.12.2005, p. 25; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 08.12.2005, p. 39; Concerto 2/1998; Kohler 2006, pp. 50 to 54; information from the estate. ↩
32. Information from the estate (René Kollo Show); Die Steirische, 08.09.1988, p. 12 (Heimo Steps, “Vitaler Klangmaler”); YouTube, “Benny Goodman At The Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen Denmark 1981” (channel 1964Mbrooks); Porgy & Bess, programme text for “A Tribute to Harry Pepl”, 06.12.2006; Kohler 2006, pp. 55 to 60. The programme text dates the Copenhagen concert to 1980. ↩
33. Kohler 2006, pp. 61 to 63. ↩
34. Photograph with handwritten dedication in the estate; Kohler 2006, p. 62 f. ↩
35. Kohler 2006, p. 90. ↩
36. JazzEcho, 07.12.2005; Kohler 2006, pp. 90 f. and 94. ↩
37. Kohler 2006, p. 95; Heckel 2024, p. 219. ↩
38. Jazzzeitung 2006, p. 6 (Rainer Rygalyk, “Ciao Habanero”). ↩
39. Kohler 2006, p. 98 f. ↩
40. Information sheet “Infos Harry PEPL” (around 1996), p. 2 f.; Kohler 2006, pp. 103 to 111. ↩
41. Quoted in the Kleine Zeitung, 10.01.1988, p. 18, in Die Steirische, 08.09.1988, p. 12, in the programme booklets of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien of 27.02.1990 and 06.05.1993 and in the Kurier, 03.11.1998, p. 10. ↩
42. Wochenpresse no. 49, 09.12.1988, p. 54 f.; Kohler 2006, pp. 101 f. Kohler gives 1988 as the year of release, Heckel 2024 (p. 191) 1987. ↩
43. Wochenpresse no. 49, 09.12.1988, p. 54 f.; Heckel 2024, pp. 90 to 92; Kohler 2006, p. 113. ↩
44. Die Steirische, 08.09.1988, p. 12; Heckel 2024, p. 91; Kohler 2006, pp. 113 f. ↩
45. ECM Records, press release for “Cracked Mirrors” (1988), p. 1; press digest for “Cracked Mirrors” (1988), likewise quoted in the programme booklet of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien of 16.03.1989. ↩
46. Robert Urman, “Glanzvolle Dreieinigkeit”, daily newspaper (title not preserved), 22.04.1988. ↩
47. Wochenpresse no. 49, 09.12.1988, p. 55; Stuttgarter Zeitung, 15.12.1988 (“Jazz im Zauberspiegel”); Eßlinger Zeitung, 17.12.1988 (Christa Wörner, “Perkussives”); Heckel 2024, p. 95. ↩
48. Wochenpresse no. 49, 09.12.1988, p. 54 (subtitle). ↩
49. Daniel Pepl, oral communication, 15.10.2026. ↩
50. Kleine Zeitung, 10.01.1988, p. 18; Die Steirische, 08.09.1988, p. 12 (Scofield, quoted by Heimo Steps); Porgy & Bess, programme text, 06.12.2006; Kohler 2006, p. 87, and Heckel 2024, pp. 58 to 60 (Metheny, Frisell). ↩
51. Programme booklet of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, 27.02.1990; Heckel 2024, pp. 61 to 63. ↩
52. Harry Pepl in: Bernhard Günther (ed.), Lexikon zeitgenössischer Musik aus Österreich, Vienna: music information center austria 1997, p. 824 f.; mica, Harry Pepl; Kohler 2006, p. 135. ↩
53. Programme booklets of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, 16.03.1989 and 27.02.1990; Heckel 2024, p. 215 f. ↩
54. Programme booklet of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, 27.02.1990; Heckel 2024, p. 87. ↩
55. Information sheet “Infos Harry PEPL” (around 1996), p. 3; Kohler 2006, p. 120. ↩
56. Information sheet “Infos Harry PEPL” (around 1996), p. 3; Der Standard, 06.12.2005, p. 25; Heckel 2024, pp. 80, 87 f. and 228 f. The former website and Heimo Steps (GamsbART-Post 5/2006) give 1990. ↩
57. Neue Kronen-Zeitung, 28.07.1994, p. 22 (Bernd Schmidt, “Rastloser Grenzgänger”); Kohler 2006, p. 120; Heckel 2024, pp. 137 to 149. ↩
58. Programme booklet of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, 06.05.1993; Kurier, 09.05.1993, p. 22 (Werner Schuster); quotation from Pepl: Kohler 2006, p. 122. ↩
59. Tschin Bumm, February 1990, p. 52 (“Harry Pepl im Studio: Das Bösendorfer-Projekt”); Heckel 2024, pp. 103 to 113 and 119; Kohler 2006, pp. 115 to 119. ↩
60. Andreas Felber, “Harry Pepl. Die Überzeitlichkeit des Augenblicks”, liner notes to the CD edition 2004, quoted in Heckel 2024, p. 119. ↩
61. Letter from the Knitting Factory (Michael Dorf) of 02.04.1992; Jazzlive no. 99/1992, p. 8 (Hannes Schweiger, “Soundknitting”); Kohler 2006, p. 124 f. ↩
62. Salzburger Nachrichten, May 1994 (short review); Salzburger Nachrichten, 24.12.1994, p. 7 (Wolfgang Lamprecht); Der Standard, 27.05.1994 (Ljubiša Tošić, “Der Groove-Professor gibt sich recht unberechenbar”); Neue Kronen-Zeitung, 28.07.1994, p. 22. ↩
63. Kulturpreis des Landes Niederösterreich (Culture Prize of the State of Lower Austria): 1991 Anerkennungspreis (recognition prize), 1998 Würdigungspreis (prize of honour) for music (the state's database of prizewinners); Kurier, 03.11.1998, p. 10. ↩
64. Kurier, 03.11.1998, p. 10 (“Auszeichnung für den musikalischen Jazz-Grenzgänger Harry Pepl”). ↩
65. Kohler 2006, p. 29; Heckel 2024, p. 69. ↩
66. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 08.12.2005, p. 39; JazzEcho, 07.12.2005; neue musikzeitung, citing ORF, December 2005 (full professor from 1984 to 1995). ↩
67. Kleine Zeitung, 10.01.1988, p. 18 (standfirst). ↩
68. Kohler 2006, p. 139. ↩
69. Kurier, 03.11.1998, p. 10. ↩
70. Heckel 2024, p. 230 f. ↩
71. Steirerkrone, 20.05.1982 (Ronnie Herbolzheimer, “Star mit Witz: Larry Coryell”). ↩
72. Musikergilde, 19.12.2005; JazzEcho, 07.12.2005; Passauer Neue Presse, 27.10.2017, p. 21; Heckel 2024, pp. 65, 80 and 244. ↩
73. George Varga, interview with Wolfgang Muthspiel, The San Diego Union-Tribune, 28.01.2022. ↩
74. Daniel Pepl, oral communication, 15.10.2026; Andy Manndorff in an interview with mica, quoted in the APA obituary, Salzburger Nachrichten, 11.09.2017. ↩
75. Wiener Meisterkurse (European Music Institute Vienna), Faculty since 1975; the year of his course is not documented. ↩
76. JazzEcho, 07.12.2005. ↩
77. neue musikzeitung, citing ORF, December 2005; Musikergilde, 19.12.2005. ↩
78. GamsbART-Post 5/2006; Die Steirische, 08.09.1988, p. 12. ↩
79. Kurier, 03.11.1998, p. 10. ↩
80. Concerto 2/2009, p. 44; Kohler 2006, pp. 1 and 67; Heckel 2024, p. 154. ↩
81. Neue Kronen-Zeitung, 28.07.1994, p. 22. ↩
82. Kohler 2006, pp. 128 to 133; Heckel 2024, p. 152. ↩
83. Concerto 2/1998. ↩
84. Booklet of “Consequence” (1995), quoted in Kohler 2006, p. 129. ↩
85. Heckel 2024, pp. 154 and 259 f.; Kohler 2006, p. 133. ↩
86. Kohler 2006, p. 133. ↩
87. Concerto 2/2009, p. 44; Heckel 2024, pp. 154 and 158 f. ↩
88. Jazzzeitung 2006, p. 6; Heckel 2024, pp. 154 to 156. ↩
89. Musikergilde, 19.12.2005; Der Standard, 06.12.2005, p. 25; Die Presse, December 2005, p. 34. ↩
90. Der Standard, 06.12.2005, p. 25; JazzEcho, 07.12.2005; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 08.12.2005, p. 39 (“Schnelle Finger”); neue musikzeitung, citing ORF, December 2005; Die Presse, December 2005, p. 34. ↩
91. Kohler 2006, foreword. ↩
92. GamsbART-Post 5/2006 (Otmar Klammer, “Harry Pepl: Wege & Visionen”); Kleine Zeitung online, 17.11.2006 (Michael Tschida, “Harry Pepl: Œuvre eines Kreativen”); mica music austria. ↩
93. Porgy & Bess, programme text for 06.12.2006. ↩
94. Deutschlandfunk, Nachtradio, “Milestones: Harry Pepl”, 13.03.2007. ↩
95. Thomas Zlabinger, Free from Jazz, dissertation, CUNY 2013; former website harrypepl.com. ↩
96. GLM Fine Music, “Songs From The Treehouse” (FM 434), 2025: track 7 “Air, Love & Vitamines”. ↩
97. Kresten Osgood, “Live At H15 Studio” (ILK, 2024), Bandcamp; JazzDanmark, Danish Music Awards Jazz 2024, Store VEGA, Copenhagen, 10.12.2024. ↩
98. Heckel 2024, pp. 156 and 163 to 170. ↩
99. Press text by Fullmax Recordings for the album “Live” (2025), p. 1; Heckel 2024, pp. 168 to 170. ↩
100. ORF Kärnten, November 2025; Ö1, “On stage Spezial”, 26.11.2025; fullmax.at, 26.11.2025. ↩
101. Kronen Zeitung, 18.12.2025, p. 42 (F. Jureček, “Die Schemen eines Lebenden”); Kleine Zeitung, 18.12.2025, p. 51 (Robert Tendl, “Im Spiel mit der Wiener Gitarristenlegende”). ↩
102. Ö1, “Die Ö1 Jazznacht”, 19.09.2015 and 06.09.2025 (Christian Bakonyi). ↩
103. Fullmax Recordings catalogue. ↩
104. Heckel 2024, pp. 1 and 203. ↩
105. GamsbART-Post 5/2006; Kleine Zeitung online, 17.11.2006; Ö1, “Schon gehört?”, 21.11.2013 (programme page). ↩
106. mica music austria, music database: Wolfgang Schiftner. ↩
107. University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, gazette no. 5, 03.12.2008: awarded on 17 November 2008, a scholarship of 4,000 euros that called for a study of Pepl's work, whose results were to be presented in 2009; Daniel Riegler's website, biography; mica music austria, 17.09.2010; Kleine Zeitung, 16.11.2008, p. 109. ↩
108. mica music austria, music database: Stefan Heckel. ↩
109. Ö1, “Schon gehört?”, 21.11.2013; mica music austria, 25.11.2013. ↩
110. Falter 47/2015, 18.11.2015; NÖN, 24.12.2015. Falb's biography, mica and Wikipedia give 2016. ↩
111. In his dissertation Stefan Heckel dates the series up to 2015 (Heckel 2024, p. 71). ↩