Wednesday, 4 November 2026
Enrico Rava on Harry Pepl: “One of the best I ever heard and a beautiful person”
The Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava, who brought Harry Pepl into his quintet with the Argentine bandoneon player Dino Saluzzi in autumn 1986 (album “Volver” on the renowned European jazz label ECM), has written to Harry’s son Daniel Pepl: “Harry was amazing.”
“One of the best I ever heard and a beautiful person.” He praises Harry’s calm, which, he says, brought a better atmosphere to the band, and his playing, “fantastic every night”. And for him Pepl’s piece “Ballantine for Valentine” is “the record’s most original”. The words can be read in the original English on the Enrico Rava page and on the page of the quintet.