Press archive
What was written and broadcast about Harry Pepl: reviews, portraits, interviews and obituaries, with summary and source. The originals are protected by copyright and kept in the archive; we provide them to researchers and the press on request.
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30 August 1989 · Press release · DE
OTS (Originaltext-Service der APA), Aussendung des Landes Niederösterreich: „Niederösterreichische Jazzakademie von 2. - 9. September“
Press release on the first Lower Austrian Jazz Academy at Zeillern Castle near Amstetten (2 to 9 September 1989), founded by Gottfried Zawichowski and Albert Kreuzer as further training for jazz musicians without access to jazz studies.
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Pepl teaches guitar in the international faculty.
Guitar: Harry Pepl, Hernstein
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16 March 1989 · Programme booklet · DE
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, programme booklet, Brahms-Saal (series „Freude an Musik“, concert 3): Ensemble Wien, Donnerstag, 16. März 1989, 18.30 Uhr
editor: Teresa Reichenberger
Programme booklet of the concert in which the Ensemble Wien plays Pepl’s “Ballade for Mr.
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Dinozo” for two violins, viola and double bass. The note on Pepl summarises critics’ comments and mentions his jazz trio with Herbert Joos and Jon Christensen as well as the Jazzzwio in Montreux. Pepl is wrongly described there as a Tyrolean guitarist.
one of the most innovative guitarists across the whole of Europe
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17 January 1989 · Report · DE
APA-Basisdienst (Austria Presse Agentur), Rubrik APA JAZZ NEWS: „Jazz im Radio“
initials „hmf/fwi/ca“
Programme note: on Saturday, 21 January 1989, the Ö1 Jazzstudio (ORF’s cultural radio station) devoted a feature to the Austrian guitarist Harry Pepl.
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A feature in the Ö1 Jazzstudio on 21 January is devoted to the Austrian guitarist Harry Pepl.
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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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17 December 1988 · Review · DE
Eßlinger Zeitung (weekend edition): „Perkussives“ (Joos, Pepl und Oxley)
Christa Wörner
Review of the year-end concert of the series “Jazz in der Dieselstraße” with Herbert Joos, Harry Pepl and Tony Oxley: catchy melodies and folk-song-like passages frame abstract structures, played with and against the electronics.
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By way of his guitar, Pepl also plays trumpet and piano and manages a drum solo on the guitar; Joos recalls Chet Baker, and Oxley shapes the European character of the music.
European jazz? The trio of Herbert Joos, Harry Pepl and Tony Oxley provided an example of it.
In this way Pepl managed to play a dazzling drum solo on the guitar.
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15 December 1988 · Review · DE
Stuttgarter Zeitung: „Jazz im Zauberspiegel“ (Dieselstraße: Joos-Pepl-Oxley)
lind
Concert review of the trio of Herbert Joos, Harry Pepl and Tony Oxley at the Dieselstraße culture and communication centre in Esslingen.
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The author begins with critical questions about volume, the playback tape and hidden themes and then describes a bewildering game of free jazz and balladic romanticism, in which the audience accepted Pepl’s guitar synthesiser as an enrichment; he refers to the record “Cracked Mirrors”.
accepted Harry Pepl’s guitar synthesiser as an imaginative enrichment of the sound
in a piece like “Schikaneders Delight” there was also quite definitely a Mozartean cheerfulness at play.
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9 December 1988 · Interview · DE
Wochenpresse (no. 49): „Saitensprünge“
Wolfgang Kralicek
Two-page portrait with an interview around Pepl’s Austrian tour in December 1988. It describes how “Cracked Mirrors” came about in the Wachau studio, with the drums added afterwards in Oslo, the Montreux and ECM (the renowned European jazz label) period with Pirchner and DeJohnette, and Pepl’s work in his home studio in Hernstein. The albums of 1988 are named.
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I couldn’t care less that it’s called jazz.
“Wurscht” (literally “sausage”) is Viennese for “it makes no difference”. Said in an interview during his Austrian tour in December 1988, about his music being labelled jazz
Harry Pepl
The Austrian musician Harry Pepl is a man in demand internationally.
They were all thrilled. A sensation, really.
On the Jazzzwio’s performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, in 1981, in an interview in 1988
Harry Pepl
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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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8 September 1988 · Portrait · DE
Die Steirische: „Vitaler Klangmaler“ (Das Künstlerporträt: Harry Pepl)
Heimo Steps
Portrait on page 12 by the manager of gamsbART (Graz concert promoter), written on the occasion of the German Record Critics’ Award (German award for outstanding recordings, chosen by a jury of critics) for “Cracked Mirrors”.
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Among other things, it tells of the time with DeJohnette in Paris, the film music with Benny Goodman and planned projects in Graz.
His musical paintings are a pleasure to listen to, not least because sensuality and warmth are inherent in them.
He is one of my favourites
Having grown up with the accordion, he does not deny our own musical tradition and lets it flow into his music.
The great stylistic diversity and his unmistakably idiosyncratic playing, not to mention his perfect command of the instrument, make even the most prominent fellow musicians rave.
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September 1988 · Programme booklet · DE
Jazz Festival Willisau, Programmheft 1988: „Jazz in Willisau: Coming Dates“
On p. 110, under “Jazz in Willisau: Coming Dates”, the programme of the 14th Jazz Festival Willisau (canton of Lucerne, Switzerland) of 1 to 4 September 1988 announces a double concert by Airmail (Harry Pepl, Wolfgang Puschnig, Mike Richmond, Wolfgang Reisinger) and Depart (Harry Sokal, Heiri Känzig, Jojo Meyer) for Saturday, 3 December 1988, at 8 p.m. at the Mohren. According to the concert list, poster and press documentation of the Willisau Jazz Archive, the Ray Anderson Quartet played that evening; whether Air Mail's concert was cancelled or postponed is not known.
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30 August 1988 · Report · DE
APA-Basisdienst (Austria Presse Agentur), Rubrik APA JAZZ NEWS: „Schallplattenpreis für Harry Pepls ‚Cracked Mirrors‘“
initials „hmf/fwi“
Report: the ECM album “Cracked Mirrors” with Herbert Joos and Jon Christensen received the German Record Critics’ Award (German award for outstanding recordings, chosen by a jury of critics) in the jazz category of the quarterly list.
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The last Austrian jazz musician honoured in this way before Pepl was Werner Pirchner for the double album “EU”.
Great success for the guitarist Harry Pepl, a lot of attention for Austrian jazz.
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27 August 1988 · Other
Music Week (British music trade magazine): „New Albums“ (Neuerscheinungen vom 30. August bis 2. September 1988)
The new-release list of the British music trade magazine includes “Cracked Mirrors” by Harry Pepl, Herbert Joos (printed “Joss”) and Jon Christensen for the week beginning Tuesday, 30 August 1988, as a jazz album on ECM/New Note, LP ECM 1356, CD 833 472-2. It is a trade listing of the British release, not a review.
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PEPL, Harry/Herbert JOSS/Jón CHRISTENSEN CRACKED MIRRORS ECM/New Note ECM 1356/8334722"CD"
Entry in the “New Albums” list of the British music trade magazine Music Week for the week of 30 August to 2 September 1988: British release of “Cracked Mirrors” on ECM/New Note, LP ECM 1356, CD 833 472-2. “JOSS” and “Jón” as printed, meaning Herbert Joos and Jon Christensen; a listing, not a review
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17 August 1988 · Review · FR
Le Monde: „Michel Portal: « Men's land »“
F. M. (wahrscheinlich Francis Marmande)
Record review in Le Monde, the Paris daily, of Michel Portal's Amiens recording “Men's Land” (Label Bleu).
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The review calls the line-up “particularly well chosen” and lists Jack DeJohnette, Dave Liebman, Mino Cinelu, Harry Pepl and Jean-François Jenny-Clark. It is signed with initials, very probably “F. M.” for Francis Marmande, the paper's jazz critic.
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14 June 1988 · Report · DE
APA-Basisdienst (Austria Presse Agentur), Rubrik APA JAZZ NEWS: „Erfolge für Harry Pepl“
initials „A“
Report on the international response to “Cracked Mirrors” with Herbert Joos and Jon Christensen and to the LP “Volver” with Dino Saluzzi and Enrico Rava.
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Appearances at Scandinavian festivals and concerts in Japan are announced for the following year. Pepl says he began playing without any concrete idea of the sound.
His new album “Cracked Mirrors”, recorded with Herbert Joos and Jon Christensen, has caught the attention of international critics.
created, as it were, out of nothing
Harry Pepl
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May 1988 · Press release · DE
ECM Records, Munich (press release): Harry Pepl / Herbert Joos / Jon Christensen: „Cracked Mirrors“
ECM Records
Two-page press information from the label on the album (ECM 1356, CD 833 472-2, LP 833 472-1), with the line-up: Pepl on guitar, Roland MIDI guitar system and piano, Joos on flugelhorn, Christensen on drums.
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The text describes the album as a sequence of broken genres, from parodied pianistic bliss and alienated Alpine folk music to free jazz in the spirit of Ornette Coleman, and emphasises the evidently meaningful use of electronics.
three musicians meet who are able to improvise with a great deal of sensuality and warmth even in advanced playing techniques.
This album certainly runs completely against the wind of the zeitgeist.
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22 April 1988 · Review · DE
daily newspaper (title not preserved): „Glanzvolle Dreieinigkeit“
Robert Urman
Review of the concert at the Posthof in Linz: the new trinity around Harry Pepl with Herbert Joos and Jon Christensen.
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Urman describes breathtaking string artistry, birdsong and synthetic flute sounds, lovingly coloured poetry down to a hint of Gil Evans, and an electronically generated fullness of sound on an orchestral scale. On the day of publication, a Friday, the trio was still playing at the Hotel Mader in Katsdorf.
Gems of contemporary jazz, wittily crafted by a top-class trio
The three offered breathtaking string artistry, virtuosically realised visions of wilful electronic mobilisation
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April 1988 · Review · DE
daily newspaper (title not preserved): „Versierte Gefährten“ (Musikantendreieck der Extraklasse im Posthof)
-a-
Concert review of the appearance of Harry Pepl with Jon Christensen and Herbert Joos at the Posthof in Linz on 20 April 1988. The author praises the intensity, sensuality and sharpness of the compositions, the compellingly played solos and the astonishing use of electronics, and announces the trio’s forthcoming ECM (the renowned European jazz label) record. With a photo by Nöbauer.
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Austrian jazz’s guitar great, of a standing that helps to set the tone not only in Europe
Harry Pepl brings electronics into play in an astonishing way.
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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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10 January 1988 · Portrait · DE
Kleine Zeitung: „Feldzug mit der Gitarre“
Otmar Klammer
Portrait on page 18 of the Graz guitar professor who, according to the newspaper Le Monde, was called a „Gigant der Improvisation“ [“giant of improvisation”].
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It traces his path from the Austrian Aces through commercial bands, the Fledermaus bar and the ORF Big Band (ORF: Austria's public broadcaster) to the professorship, and mentions recordings with DeJohnette, Holland, Saluzzi and Portal. Remarks by Scofield and Abercrombie about Pepl are also on record.
The guitar professor in Graz is regarded internationally as one of the best in his field.
He's great, he's like a machine gun
The American jazz guitarist John Abercrombie (ECM) on Pepl’s blistering speed, meant as praise; reported in the Kleine Zeitung, a daily from Graz, in 1988
John Abercrombie
Giant of improvisation
Le Monde
internationally sought-after master of improvisation
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1988 · Review
Fanfare (US-Magazin für Plattenkritik): Kritik zu „Volver“ (ECM 1343), Fanfare Band 12, Nr. 1
Edward Strickland
In Fanfare, the American record review magazine, the critic Edward Strickland reviews the ECM album “Volver” by Enrico Rava and Dino Saluzzi.
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Rava’s contribution to the title track is appropriately subdued, his muted trumpet briefly recalling Miles Davis; Pepl’s guitar adds a great deal to the mood, and the support from Furio Di Castri (bass) and Bruce Ditmas (drums) is understated and exemplary. He recommends the record.
Harry Pepl’s guitar adds greatly to the moody mix
The American critic Edward Strickland in 1988 in Fanfare magazine on the ECM album “Volver” by the Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava and the Argentine bandoneon player Dino Saluzzi (recorded in October 1986), on which Pepl plays guitar
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1988 · Other · DE
press review (Collage, compiler not named): „Cracked Mirrors“: Kritiken aus Deutschland, Österreich, Frankreich, Großbritannien und Japan
various (incl. Ken Hyder, Christa Wörner, Robert Urman)
Collage of reviews of “Cracked Mirrors” arranged around a concert photo of Harry Pepl: the review „Ausdrucksstark“ [“Expressive”] with the note on the quarterly list of the German Record Critics’ Award (German award for outstanding recordings, chosen by a jury of critics), concert reviews from Esslingen and Linz, a French review, an English one by Ken Hyder (“a marvellous feel of understatement”) and a Japanese CD review. This collection is the source of the often-quoted verdict on Pepl as one of the most innovative guitarists in Europe.
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Harry PEPL’s natural and attractive playing on his MIDI guitar creates constant “aha” moments and marks him out as one of the most innovative guitarists in the whole of Europe.
The jazz guitarist Harry Pepl proves to be a master of sound painting with his new album “Cracked Mirrors”
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1 November 1987 · Radio · FR
France Musique, „Jazz vivant“ (broadcast listed in the INA catalogue): „Festival Le Temps du Jazz : extraits du concert du multi-instrumentiste Michel Portal“
André Francis (production and presentation)
Broadcast by France Musique on Sunday, 1 November 1987, at 1.07 pm in the series “Jazz vivant” (52 minutes, nationwide): excerpts from the concert of Michel Portal’s “Sextet Unit” on 30 May 1987 at the Maison de la Culture d'Amiens during the festival “Le Temps du Jazz”, with Dave Liebman, Jack DeJohnette, Mino Cinelu, Harry Pepl and Jean-François Jenny-Clark: “Ahmad the terrible”, a trio improvisation, “Changement” and “Easy”. Record PHY11005821 in the catalogue of the INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel), the archive of French radio and television; the broadcast can only be heard on site at the INAthèque, which does not provide copies.
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16 June 1987 · Report · DE
APA-Basisdienst (Austria Presse Agentur), Rubrik APA JAZZ NEWS: „Erfolg für Harry Pepl in Frankreich“
initials „hmf/fwi“
Short report from Paris: Pepl was successful at several concerts in France, including sessions with Jack DeJohnette and Dave Liebman in Paris.
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Praise came from the guitarist John Abercrombie; several record productions were in preparation, among them an album with Herbert Joos.
There was praise, too, from a prominent colleague, the guitarist John Abercrombie.
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2 June 1987 · Report · DE
APA-Basisdienst (Austria Presse Agentur), Rubrik APA JAZZ NEWS: „Programm für das ‚Jazzianer-Fort‘ in Wiesen fixiert“
initials „hmf/fwi/wm“
Programme preview of the festival at the “Jazzianer-Fort” in Wiesen, Burgenland (3 to 5 July 1987).
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On Sunday, 5 July, Air Mail was billed alongside George Russell’s big band, the Johnny Griffin Quartet and Duo Due; the agency announced the band with „Österreichs erstem Gitarristen“ [“Austria’s foremost guitarist”].
AirMail with Austria’s foremost guitarist Harry Pepl
APA JAZZ NEWS (Austria Presse Agentur)
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30 May 1987 · Radio · FR
Radio France, „Le temps du jazz“ (live recording, im INA-Katalog): „Concert du Michel Portal Unit 87“
André Francis (production)
Concert recording by Radio France of Saturday, 30 May 1987, at the Amiens jazz festival, the evening of the live album “Men's Land”: Michel Portal, Dave Liebman (soprano saxophone), Harry Pepl (guitar), Jean-François Jenny-Clark (double bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums) and Mino Cinelu (percussion), 1 hour 18 minutes. The recording is longer than the album: besides “Ahmad the terrible”, “Easy” and “Pastor” the record lists a trio improvisation, “Changement” by Joachim Kühn, “Bandolina”, “Jack” and a piece “Comète” by Harry Pepl, according to Daniel Pepl “Halley's Comet Light Blue Blues”, which is not on “Men's Land”. Record PHY14005763 in the catalogue of the INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel), the archive of French radio and television; the recording can only be heard on site at the INAthèque, which does not provide copies.
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7 April 1987 · Report · DE
APA-Basisdienst (Austria Presse Agentur), Rubrik APA JAZZ NEWS: „Jazz-Splitter“
initials „hmf/fwi“
Short report: Pepl had been in the studio with the trumpeter and flugelhorn player Herbert Joos (the result became “Cracked Mirrors”), sessions in France with Jack DeJohnette, Michel Portal and Mino Cinelu would follow in May, and a trio record with DeJohnette and Dave Holland was in preparation. Pepl is introduced as guitar professor at the jazz department of the Graz music academy (today the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz).
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A trio record with Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland is in preparation.
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13 January 1987 · Television · FR
FR3, „Le Temps du jazz“ (broadcast listed in the INA catalogue): „Loose tubes et air mail“
Jean de Nesle (direction)
Television programme by FR3, the French regional television of the time, in its Nord-Pas-de-Calais service on Tuesday, 13 January 1987, in the series “Le Temps du jazz” (27 minutes): recordings from the Maison de la Culture d'Amiens with the British big band Loose Tubes and with Air Mail, playing Pepl’s “The Eye of the Groundhog”. The record does not give the recording date; Air Mail played at the Amiens jazz festival in May 1986. Record RCC02013106 in the catalogue of the INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel), the archive of French radio and television; the programme can only be viewed on site at the INAthèque, which does not provide copies.
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3 November 1986 · Radio · FR
Radio France (live recording, im INA-Katalog): „Festival de Jazz de Paris : Concert du Dino Saluzzi quintet“
André Francis (production)
Concert recording by Radio France of Monday, 3 November 1986, at the Festival de Jazz de Paris: the quintet of Dino Saluzzi (bandoneon) and Enrico Rava (trumpet) with Harry Pepl (guitar), Furio Di Castri (double bass) and Bruce Ditmas (drums), 1 hour 12 minutes, a few weeks after the recording of “Volver”. Among the pieces were “Volver” by Carlos Gardel and Pepl’s “More Far Out Than East” (almost 21 minutes). Record PHY11006111 in the catalogue of the INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel), the archive of French radio and television; the recording can only be heard on site at the INAthèque, which does not provide copies.
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27 September 1986 · Other
Bizim Caz, Datenbank des Jazz in der Türkei (online): „Dino Saluzzi ve Enrico Rava Beşlisi“, Şan Tiyatrosu, 2. Bilsak Caz Festivali
Database entry on the concert of the quintet of Dino Saluzzi and Enrico Rava on Saturday, 27 September 1986, at 11 pm at the Şan Tiyatrosu in Istanbul, Turkey, at the 2nd International Bilsak Jazz Festival, with Enrico Rava, Harry Pepl, Dino Saluzzi, Furio Di Castri and Bruce Ditmas.
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26 September 1986 · Other
Bizim Caz, Datenbank des Jazz in der Türkei (online): „Air Mail“, Şan Tiyatrosu, 2. Bilsak Caz Festivali
Database entry on the Air Mail concert on Friday, 26 September 1986, at 10 pm at the Şan Tiyatrosu in Istanbul, Turkey, at the 2nd International Bilsak Jazz Festival, with Wolfgang Puschnig, Harry Pepl, Mike Richmond and Wolfgang Reisinger; organiser BİLSAK.
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July 1986 · Review · FR
Jazz Hot, no. 432: „Amiens : le temps du jazz“
Franck Bergerot
Festival report by Franck Bergerot in the July/August issue of Jazz Hot, the French jazz magazine founded in 1935, on the “Le temps du jazz” festival in Amiens (France) from 13 to 24 May 1986, at which the festival also launched its record label, Label Bleu.
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Under the heading “Coup de chaleur” (roughly: a blast of heat) he describes Air Mail's concert: fired up by Wolfgang Puschnig, driven by Mike Richmond and Wolfgang Reisinger, shaken up by an utterly unexpected Harry Pepl. To Bergerot it sounded as if Pepl wanted to pay tribute to the guitarist Joseph Dejean, who had died ten years earlier; in his playing he found again the thread of a history of the guitar that he had thought lost. The music was free, fresh, uninhibited and full of energy, and he had not enjoyed himself so much in a long time. The report gives no date for the concert. Thirty-five years later Bergerot paid tribute to Pepl again in Jazz Magazine, as “the late Austrian jazz guitarist”.
Air Mail, fired up by Wolfgang Puschnig, driven by the rhythm section of Mike Richmond / Wolfgang Reisinger and shaken up by an utterly unexpected Harry Pepl.
Franck Bergerot in Jazz Hot on Air Mail's concert at the “Le temps du jazz” festival in Amiens, France, in May 1986, under the heading “Coup de chaleur” (roughly: a blast of heat)
There I found again the thread of a history of the guitar that I feared I had lost for good.
Franck Bergerot on Pepl's guitar playing at Air Mail's concert in Amiens, France, in May 1986; just before, he writes that had Pepl wanted to pay tribute to the guitarist Joseph Dejean, who had died ten years earlier, he could not have gone about it any differently
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July 1986 · Review · FR
Jazz Hot, no. 432: „Du jazz sous les pommiers“
Alain Guerrini
Festival report by Alain Guerrini in the July/August issue of Jazz Hot, the French jazz magazine founded in 1935, on the 5th Jazz sous les pommiers in Coutances (Normandy, France) from 3 to 10 May 1986. On the closing night, at the theatre, Guerrini discovered Air Mail with Wolfgang Puschnig, Harry Pepl, Mike Richmond and Wolfgang Reisinger as “un groupe prodigieux”, a prodigious group: from the Berlin ballad to hard rock, their music brought almost a century of music history back to life. As the most telling piece he names “Halley Comet”, probably Pepl's “The Halley's Comet Light Blue Blues”. The Eddy Louiss Big Band closed the evening. Jazz Hot names Puschnig as the band's leader; according to Daniel Pepl, Air Mail had no leader, and the statement is an error in the report. Guerrini gives 10 p.m. as the starting time, the festival archive 9 p.m.
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There I discovered a prodigious group: Air Mail
Alain Guerrini in Jazz Hot on the closing night of the Jazz sous les pommiers festival in Coutances, France, on Saturday, 10 May 1986, Air Mail's first concert in France
“Halley Comet” is the most telling piece of this cosmic quartet.
Alain Guerrini on Air Mail's concert in Coutances, France, in May 1986; “Halley Comet” is probably Pepl's “The Halley's Comet Light Blue Blues”, later the title track of Air Mail's album “Light Blues” (1988)
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20 June 1986 · Report · DE
Gemeindeblatt für den Bezirk Landeck, no. 25: „Jazz-Formation »Air Mail« gastiert in Landeck“
Preview in the Gemeindeblatt für den Bezirk Landeck (Tyrol, Austria), a local paper delivered to every household in the district, of Air Mail's concert on Thursday, 19 June 1986, at 8.30 p.m. at the Hotel Sonne in Landeck, the last before the summer break.
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The band's profile gives 1984 as the year it was founded and names its international debut at the New Jazz Festival Moers and at festivals in Cologne and Warsaw, the LP “Prayer for Peace” (1985) and the tour in May and June 1986 through Switzerland, Germany, France and Austria with the festivals in Coutances, Amiens, Maur near Zurich and Neuwied, as well as invitations to Istanbul, Ankara and Basel. It adds four press quotes in English, Polish, French and German, without naming the publications, and a group photo by Rainer Rygalyk.
“Air Mail”, one of the best contemporary quartets on the European jazz scene, is coming to town.
A much-noticed international debut at the “New Jazz Festival Moers” and at the festivals in Cologne and Warsaw.
Air Mail was the most enjoya[ble] discovery of the festival
English-language press quote on a festival appearance by Air Mail, publication and year not named; the Gemeindeblatt für den Bezirk Landeck, a local paper in Tyrol, printed it in 1986 before the concert at the Hotel Sonne. The addition in square brackets fills the cut-off margin of the print.
an ideal jazz quartet … in the same breath we cite the example of John Coltrane's quartet of the 1960s
Polish press quote, publication and year not named; it compares Air Mail with John Coltrane's quartet of the 1960s. The Polish wording is given as printed in the Gemeindeblatt für den Bezirk Landeck in 1986, with copying errors and additions at the margin in square brackets.
Air Mail is establishing itself as one of the most exciting quartets on the European scene.
French-language press quote, publication and year not named; the original wording is given as printed in the Gemeindeblatt für den Bezirk Landeck in 1986.
A music that does justice to a trait of the times, an artistic togetherness to whose wholeness each contributes his own independent and irreplaceable share.
German-language press quote on Air Mail, publication and year not named; as printed in the Gemeindeblatt für den Bezirk Landeck, a local paper in Tyrol, in 1986.
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15 May 1986 · Radio · FR
Radio France, „Concert de jazz“ (live recording, im INA-Katalog): „Concert de jazz : [émission du 00/00/00]“
André Francis (production)
Combined programme by Radio France, France’s public radio broadcaster, of three concert recordings, which the INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel), the archive of French radio and television, dates to Thursday, 15 May 1986, 3 hours 39 minutes in all.
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It opens with the trio of the trombonist Ray Anderson with Mark Helias (double bass) and Gerry Hemingway (drums), according to the record “enregistré le 15 mai 1986 à Paris” (recorded in Paris on 15 May 1986). Then come Air Mail with Wolfgang Puschnig (flute, alto saxophone, oboe), Harry Pepl (guitar), Mike Richmond (double bass) and Wolfgang Reisinger (drums), 1 hour 22 minutes, and finally the Orchestre National de Jazz, France’s national jazz orchestra, under François Jeanneau. The combined record names Paris as the venue only for Ray Anderson’s trio; Air Mail’s track list is in the separate record for this part (PHY14005647). The chronology gives Wednesday, 14 May, for Air Mail’s concert at the Paris club New Morning; whether the recording comes from that evening is open. Record PHY11006057_00 in the INA catalogue; the programme can only be heard on site at the INAthèque, which does not provide copies.
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15 May 1986 · Radio · FR
Radio France, „Concert de jazz“ (live recording, im INA-Katalog): „Concert de Air Mail“
André Francis (production)
Concert recording by Radio France of Thursday, 15 May 1986: Air Mail with Wolfgang Puschnig (flute, alto saxophone, oboe), Harry Pepl (guitar), Mike Richmond (double bass) and Wolfgang Reisinger (drums), 1 hour 22 minutes.
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The track list names Pepl’s “Mulwolf” (according to Daniel Pepl “Das Auge des Maulwurfs”), “Light blue blues” (Halley's Comet Light Blue Blues), “The man in the old sea” and “Bike breaker” (Radlbremser), plus “Nudnicks” and “A prayer for peace”. The combined record for the same day (PHY11006057_00) places Air Mail alongside the trio of Ray Anderson, “enregistré le 15 mai 1986 à Paris” (recorded in Paris on 15 May 1986), and the Orchestre National de Jazz under François Jeanneau. The chronology gives Wednesday, 14 May, for the concert at the Paris club New Morning; whether it is the same evening is open. Record PHY14005647 in the catalogue of the INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel), the archive of French radio and television; the recording can only be heard on site at the INAthèque, which does not provide copies.
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10 May 1986 · Programme booklet · FR
Jazz sous les pommiers, festival archive (online): „Air Mail“ (Programm der 5. Ausgabe, Samstag, 10. Mai, 21 Uhr, Théâtre)
Entry in the online archive of Jazz sous les pommiers, the jazz festival in Coutances (Normandy, France), for its 5th edition from 3 to 10 May 1986: Air Mail with Wolfgang Puschnig (saxophone), Harry Pepl (guitar), Mike Richmond (double bass) and Wolfgang Reisinger (drums) plays on the closing night, Saturday, 10 May, at 9 p.m. at the theatre, on the same evening as the Eddy Louiss Big Band and Blue Lips. The programme text introduces the band as “two Viennese” from the Vienna Art Orchestra, a prestigious bassist from the USA and Pepl as the “new star” of guitar-mad jazz fans, and announces Air Mail's first concert in France.
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That is Air Mail, which will touch down in Coutances for its first concert in France.
Programme text of the Jazz sous les pommiers festival for Air Mail's concert on 10 May 1986; “se poser” means to land, in keeping with the band's name Air Mail
the new star of the “guitar-mad jazz fans”
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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. 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.
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On the 14th: Harry Pepl quartet: Wolfgang Puschnig, soprano sax; Mike Richmond, bass; Wolfgang Reisinger, drums.
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10 March 1986 · Radio · FR
Radio France, „Concert de jazz“ (live recording, im INA-Katalog): „Concert du Michel Portal Unit“
André Francis (production)
Concert recording by Radio France of Monday, 10 March 1986, three days after the Banlieues Bleues festival; the record does not name the venue.
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The Michel Portal Unit plays with Michel Portal (soprano and tenor saxophone, bass clarinet), Harry Pepl (guitar), Jean-François Jenny-Clark (double bass), Mino Cinelu (percussion, synthesizer), Jack DeJohnette (drums) and Jean Schwartz (percussion), 1 hour 48 minutes. The track list names “Radl Bremser pastor” and “Desauge + maulwurfs no forte”, according to Daniel Pepl two pieces each, played in direct succession or segueing into each other: Pepl’s “Radlbremser” with Portal’s “Pastor” and Pepl’s “Das Auge des Maulwurfs” with Portal’s “No Forte”, plus “Halley's comet right blue blues”. Record PHY14005622 in the catalogue of the INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel), the archive of French radio and television; the recording can only be heard on site at the INAthèque, which does not provide copies.
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7 March 1986 · Other · FR
Banlieues Bleues, festival archive (online): Konzert des 3. Festivals: Portal, DeJohnette, Cinelu, Jenny-Clark, Pepl
Entry in the online archive of Banlieues Bleues, the jazz festival in the Seine-Saint-Denis département near Paris (France), for the concert on Friday, 7 March 1986, at the Salle des fêtes in Montreuil: Michel Portal (reeds), Jack DeJohnette (drums), Mino Cinelu (percussion), Jean-François Jenny-Clark (double bass) and Harry Pepl (guitar). The archive confirms that Cinelu also played in the concert, not only at the rehearsals. Between 1984 and 1990 it is the only evening with Pepl in the festival's archive.
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25 February 1986 · Report · DE
APA-Basisdienst (Austria Presse Agentur), Rubrik APA JAZZ NEWS: „Harry Pepls Sessions in Frankreich“
initials „hmf/fwi“
Short report by the Austria Presse Agentur on Austrian jazz musicians abroad: Pepl was to play sets in Paris and Grenoble in early March 1986, and recordings with Michel Portal and Jack DeJohnette were planned.
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Recordings with Michel Portal and Jack DeJohnette are also planned.
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24 October 1985 · Other · DE
steirischer herbst, festival archive (online): „Jazzzwio Werner Pirchner / Harry Pepl & Gast“, Open Spoons Konzert
Entry in the archive of the steirischer herbst festival on the performance of the Jazzzwio with a guest on Thursday, 24 October 1985, at the Katholisches Studentenhaus Münzgraben in Graz, Austria, in the “Open Spoons” series.
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Only Werner Pirchner and Harry Pepl are named; the guest remains unnamed.
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23 October 1985 · Other · DE
steirischer herbst, festival archive (online): „Martin Wiederhofer Trio / Jazzzwio Pirchner Pepl“, Mürztaler Werkstatt Jazz
Entry in the archive of the steirischer herbst festival on the double concert on Wednesday, 23 October 1985, at the Gasthof Prettenthaler in Kindberg (Styria, Austria), in the “Mürztaler Werkstatt” series: Martin Wiederhofer Trio and Jazzzwio.
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It names Harry Pepl, Werner Pirchner, Robert Riegler, Walter Schmocker, Heimo Wiederhofer and Martin Wiederhofer, without assigning them to either group.
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17 October 1985 · Other · DE
steirischer herbst, festival archive (online): „Daniel Humair, Harry Pepl, Jean-François Jenny-Clark: Konzert“
Entry in the archive of the steirischer herbst festival on a concert and exhibition on Thursday, 17 October 1985, at the Katholisches Studentenhaus Münzgraben in Graz, Austria: the trio Daniel Humair, Harry Pepl, Jean-François Jenny-Clark and the exhibition “Daniel Humair: Malerei und Grafik” (painting and graphic art).
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8 July 1985 · Radio · FR
France Musique, „Jazz vivant“ (broadcast listed in the INA catalogue): „Extraits de concerts de Michel Portal“
André Francis (production and presentation)
Broadcast by France Musique, the music station of Radio France, on Monday, 8 July 1985, at 8.05 pm in the series “Jazz vivant” (26 minutes), devoted to Michel Portal.
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The first part presents “Mazurka” and “Angola” from the concert by Michel Portal Plus with Harry Pepl at the jazz festival in Angoulême, France, on 10 June 1984, the second a concert by Portal at the Théâtre Musical de Paris (Châtelet) on 30 October 1984 without Pepl. Record PHY11002999 in the catalogue of the INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel), the archive of French radio and television; the broadcast can only be heard on site at the INAthèque, which does not provide copies.
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18 May 1985 · Review
The New York Times (Section 1, p. 10): „MUSIC: AUSTRIAN AVANT-GARDE“
John Rockwell
Review of the opening night of the festival “Beyond the Sound of Music: New Austria/New York” at the Ohio Theater in SoHo, at which the Jazzzwio with Harry Pepl and Werner Pirchner performed together with the drummer Don Moye.
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Rockwell heard the first set, 40 minutes long, and found the music pleasant but not significant enough for the opening of a festival series; the evening began about an hour late. The Wednesday of the festival week was 15 May 1985.
relaxed and cool, in the ECM Records manner
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May 1985 · Programme booklet
Austrian Information (Austrian Press and Information Service, New York): Programm „Beyond the Sound of Music. New Austria / New York“ mit Fotos, Volume 38, Nr. 4, S. 5 bis 6
Picture page and daily programme of the New York festival. On Wednesday, 15 May 1985, at 7.30 p.m. at the Ohio Theater (66 Wooster Street, SoHo, New York), Hartmut Skerbisch (Austrian sculptor) shows his installation “Container”, Werner Pirchner, Harry Pepl and Don Moye as guest play jazz, and the Viennese composer Otto M. Zykan performs “Samples”. Further events: readings by Austrian writers on 13 and 14 May at the Deutsches Haus, 13 Austrian architects at the Austrian Institute (until 31 May), six photographers at the Arbitrage Gallery (until 8 June), the reading hosted by John Irving and Walter Abish (16 May), Dieter Kaufmann and Gunda König of the K und K Experimentalstudio (17 May), Ernst Schmidt Jr. with “Vienna Film 1896-1976”, Blizz Frizz with the New York guitarist Rhys Chatham, Armin Medosch with the ballet “The Warrior” (18 May), Austrian short films at the Millennium and Heinz Cibulka with “Metabolism/Rot.Weiss.Rot” (19 May), plus “Grid” actions by Othmar Krenn. The photo page shows Pepl with his guitar, Pirchner at the vibraphone and Moye in stage costume; the programme misprints Pirchner’s name as “Pircher”.
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Werner Pircher, Harry Pepl, and F. Don Moye as guest play jazz
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May 1985 · Other
The New Yorker: „Goings On About Town“: Ohio Theatre, Werner Pirchner and Harry Pepl’s „Zwio“
The New Yorker’s listings announce the programmes by Austrian artists at the Ohio Theatre (66 Wooster Street, SoHo), presented by The Kitchen and the Austrian Institute: first “Werner Pirchner and Harry Pepl’s ‘Zwio’ (jazz)” on Wednesday, 15 May, at 8:30 pm, followed by readings with John Irving and Walter Abish, performances, a film by Ernst Schmidt Jr. and Blizz Frizz with Rhys Chatham.
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May 1985 · Report
Austrian Information (Austrian Press and Information Service, New York): „Beyond the Sound of Music. New Austria / New York, May 15th – May 19th 1985“, Volume 38, Nr. 4, S. 3 bis 4
Peter Vujica
Lead article on the festival “Beyond the Sound of Music. New Austria / New York” (15 to 19 May 1985), staged in New York by steirischer herbst (Styrian Autumn, the festival of contemporary art in Graz, Austria) together with the Austrian Institute and the New York art space The Kitchen to mark the 40th anniversary of Austria’s regained independence. Festival director Peter Vujica (translated by Donald Friedman) describes steirischer herbst as a festival of resistance against routine and repression and lists the New York artists who had appeared in Graz, from Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass and Steve Reich to Robert Wilson, Trisha Brown, Nam June Paik, Carla Bley and the Art Ensemble of Chicago; New York, he writes, is now the long overdue return visit. The opening concert on 15 May at the Ohio Theater is given by Harry Pepl and Werner Pirchner with Don Moye. Then come readings by H. C. Artmann (Viennese poet), Wolfgang Bauer (Graz playwright), Ingeborg Day, Alfred Kolleritsch (editor of the Graz literary magazine manuskripte) and Jürg Laederach, presented by the American novelists John Irving and Walter Abish, Rhys Chatham with the Graz group Blizz Frizz, the K und K Experimentalstudio with songs based on poems by Selma Meerbaum, as well as exhibitions of photography and architecture and films. The cover shows the 1972 poster “Auf, zum steirischen herbst!” (“Off to the Styrian Autumn!”).
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The opening event on May 15th at the Ohio Theater will be shared by the Jazz Musicians, Harry Pepl and Werner Pirchner
Artists from Styria and all over Austria meet with their friends in New York.
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April 1985 · Other
DownBeat (US-Jazzzeitschrift, gegründet 1934): „European ECM“: Werner Pirchner, Harry Pepl, Jack DeJohnette (ganzseitige Vorstellung, Heft April 1985, Vol. 52, Nr. 4)
DownBeat, the leading US jazz magazine (founded in Chicago in 1934), presented the ECM album by Werner Pirchner, the Austrian composer and vibraphonist, Harry Pepl and Jack DeJohnette (ECM 1237) on a full page, p. 11, of its April 1985 issue, with a picture of the cover: “Austrians Pirchner and Pepl join with drummer Jack DeJohnette to create a highly original and accessible trio sound.” It highlights the electronic effects of Pepl’s Ovation guitar blending with Pirchner’s vibraphone and marimba. The album was presented in the “European ECM” series of the New York import distributor PolyGram Special Imports, together with four other albums from the renowned European jazz label ECM. According to the masthead, the issue went on sale on Friday, 15 March 1985.
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Austrians Pirchner and Pepl join with drummer Jack DeJohnette to create a highly original and accessible trio sound.
From the full-page presentation of the ECM album in DownBeat, April 1985, in the “European ECM” series of the US distributor PolyGram Special Imports
PolyGram Special Imports, European ECM
The electronic effects of Pepl’s ovation guitar blend with Pirchner’s tenor vibes and marimba to form a rich overlay
From the full-page presentation of the ECM album in DownBeat, April 1985, in the “European ECM” series of the US distributor PolyGram Special Imports
PolyGram Special Imports, European ECM
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20 March 1985 · Report · FR
Le Monde: „Au Théâtre de la Ville, Michel Portal double jeu“
Preview in Le Monde, the Paris daily, of two jazz evenings by Michel Portal at the Théâtre de la Ville (Paris, France) on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 March 1985, “two jazz concerts” with Harry Pepl, Jean-François Jenny-Clark, Mino Cinelu and Daniel Humair.
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16 March 1985 · Review
Billboard (US-Musikfachzeitschrift mit den Branchen-Charts, gegründet 1894): Album Reviews, Jazz-Fusion: „Werner Pirchner / Harry Pepl / Jack DeJohnette“ (Recommended)
In its issue of Saturday, 16 March 1985 (vol. 97, no. 11), Billboard, the US music trade magazine founded in 1894 and home of the industry’s leading charts, reviews the ECM album (ECM 1237, via PolyGram Special Imports) on p. 66 in its Album Reviews under Jazz-Fusion and rates it “Recommended”, Billboard’s label for new releases the editors expect to chart in their format and for albums of superior quality. The unsigned capsule review calls Pirchner a mallet stylist, Pepl an acoustic guitarist and DeJohnette a timemaster, and describes a delicate, mood-rich chamber jazz record that recalls the strongest early productions in this vein by Manfred Eicher, founder and producer of ECM. At the same time, DownBeat presented the album on a full page in its April 1985 issue; this has its own entry in the press archive.
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a delicate chamber jazz set rich in moods; recalls producer Eicher’s strongest early forays into this stream
Unsigned capsule review in the Album Reviews under Jazz-Fusion, rated “Recommended”, of the ECM album by Werner Pirchner, Harry Pepl and Jack DeJohnette; Manfred Eicher is the founder and producer of ECM
1983 date teaming mallet stylist Pirchner, acoustic guitarist Pepl and timemaster DeJohnette
Unsigned capsule review in the Album Reviews under Jazz-Fusion, rated “Recommended”, of the ECM album by Werner Pirchner, Harry Pepl and Jack DeJohnette
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9 March 1985 · Report
Cash Box (US-Musikfachzeitschrift mit eigenen Charts): Jazz: „On Jazz“, Abschnitt „Label Hopping“ (Vol. 48, Nr. 39)
Lee Jeske
In his jazz column, Lee Jeske reports under “Label Hopping” the ECM releases that PolyGram Special Imports is bringing to the USA, among them “Werner Pirchner/Harry Pepl/Jack De Johnette”, the US edition of the album ECM 1237. It is a news item, not a review; a week later Billboard recommended the album in its Album Reviews.
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And the Special Imports side of PolyGram gives us, on ECM, […] and “Werner Pirchner/Harry Pepl/Jack De Johnette.”
Lee Jeske in his jazz column in Cash Box on the ECM releases that PolyGram Special Imports brought to the USA, among them the trio album with Werner Pirchner and Jack DeJohnette (ECM 1237); a news item, not a review
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1985 · Portrait · DE
Sterz, Zeitschrift für Literatur, Kunst und Kulturpolitik (Graz), no. 32: „Der Riese aus dem Fuchsloch. Eine Anbiederung an Werner Pirchner, hingehudelt“
Heimo Steps
Portrait of Werner Pirchner by Heimo Steps, founder of gamsbART (Graz concert promoter), in the Graz magazine “Sterz”.
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Steps calls Harry Pepl Pirchner’s “musical alter ego”, quotes Le Monde (“a giant of improvisation”), praises the Jazzzwio’s Montreux record and “Air, Love & Vitamins”, and reports that Steve Swallow toured Europe with Pirchner and Pepl in the summer of 1984. He recalls a night after a concert at the Graz jazz club M 59 around 1977, when he philosophised with the two in the empty hall until dawn. Online on the website of the Edition Werner Pirchner.
Harry Pepl: the giant from Hernstein in Lower Austria, “a giant of improvisation” (Le Monde), W.P.’s musical alter ego.
The Pirchner-Pepl JazzZwio has long had a permanent place in the apocryphal pantheon of music.
“Live in Montreux”, a hammer for heart and brain, if you let heart and brain be the anvil.
Heimo Steps in 1985 in Sterz, a literary magazine from Graz, on the Jazzzwio album “Live in Montreux”; a play on hammer and anvil
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27 October 1984 · Radio · FR
Radio France, „Concert de jazz“ (live recording, im INA-Katalog): „Concert de jazz : [émission du 00/00/00]“
André Francis (production)
Combined programme by Radio France, France’s public radio broadcaster, from the Festival de Jazz de Paris on Saturday, 27 October 1984, with three concert recordings, 3 hours 9 minutes in all.
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It opens with the Compagnie Lubat around Bernard Lubat (piano, percussion, drums, synthesiser), 55 minutes. Then come Tenor Madness with Daniel Humair (drums), Jean-François Jenny-Clark (double bass), Harry Pepl (guitar), Joachim Kühn (piano, keyboards) and the tenor saxophonists François Jeanneau, Harry Sokal and Larry Schneider, 1 hour 20 minutes, and finally the quartet of the tenor saxophonist Jean-Louis Chautemps with Robert Persi (keyboards), Rémy Dall'Anese (electric bass) and André Ceccarelli (drums), 55 minutes. Pepl plays only in the Tenor Madness part; its track list is in the separate record for this part (PHY13030614). Record PHY13030595_00 in the catalogue of the INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel), the archive of French radio and television; the programme can only be heard on site at the INAthèque, which does not provide copies.
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27 October 1984 · Radio · FR
Radio France, „Concert de jazz“ (live recording, im INA-Katalog): „Festival de Jazz de Paris : Concert du Tenor Madness“
André Francis (production)
Concert recording by Radio France of Saturday, 27 October 1984, at the Festival de Jazz de Paris: Tenor Madness with Daniel Humair (drums), Jean-François Jenny-Clark (double bass), Harry Pepl (guitar), Joachim Kühn (piano, keyboards) and the tenor saxophonists François Jeanneau, Harry Sokal and Larry Schneider, 1 hour 20 minutes, with pieces by Humair, Kühn, Jeanneau and Sokal. The combined record for the same evening (PHY13030595_00) also includes the Compagnie Lubat and the quartet of Jean-Louis Chautemps. Record PHY13030614 in the catalogue of the INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel), the archive of French radio and television; the recording can only be heard on site at the INAthèque, which does not provide copies.
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23 September 1984 · Other · DE
steirischer herbst, festival archive (online): „Michel Portal Unit featuring Harry Pepl“
Entry in the archive of the steirischer herbst festival on the guest performance on Sunday, 23 September 1984, in the former slaughterhouse in Graz, Austria, in the “Falso Loco” series, with Daniel Humair, Jean-François Jenny-Clark, Joachim Kühn, George Lewis, Harry Pepl and Michel Portal.
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11 June 1984 · Other · DE
moers festival, festival archive (online): Archiv 1980 bis 1989: 11. Juni 1984, Eissporthalle
For the festival from Friday 8 to Whit Monday 11 June 1984, the online archive of the moers festival (international festival for jazz and improvised music in Moers, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) lists “Airmail (AUT)” on the last day in the ice rink hall, with Wolfgang Puschnig, Karl “Bumi” Fian, Mike Richmond and Wolfgang Reisinger, on the same evening as Pension Winnetou, Yoshiaki Fujikawa & Eastasia Orchestra and the 29th Street Saxophone Quartet. Pepl is not listed in this line-up; according to Nikolaus Kohler he played.
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10 June 1984 · Radio · FR
Radio France, „Concert de jazz“ (live recording, im INA-Katalog): „Concert du Michel Portal Plus“
André Francis (production)
Concert recording by Radio France of Sunday, 10 June 1984, according to a France Musique broadcast of the following year at the jazz festival in Angoulême, France: Michel Portal Plus with Michel Portal (alto and tenor saxophone, clarinet), Harry Sokal (tenor saxophone), Joachim Kühn (piano, keyboards), Harry Pepl (guitar), Claude Barthélemy (electric bass), Jean-Paul Celea and Jean-François Jenny-Clark (double bass), Daniel Humair (drums) and Mino Cinelu (percussion), 1 hour 24 minutes. Besides pieces by Portal, Kühn and Sokal the programme lists a title “Pepl's theme” by Harry Pepl. Record PHY14005306 in the catalogue of the INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel), the archive of French radio and television; the recording can only be heard on site at the INAthèque, which does not provide copies.
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17 January 1984 · Review · FR
Le Monde: „Berio, Aperghis et Portal: les anges et les démons“
Concert report in Le Monde on a programme with works by Luciano Berio and Georges Aperghis and a performance by Michel Portal. Pepl played in Portal’s group during these years.
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1984 · Portrait · DE
Jazzlive (österreichisches Jazzmagazin): „Harry Pepl (Gitarre)“, Porträt mit Titelbild
Multi-page portrait with a cover (“Portrait: Harry Pepl”). It reports that Pepl had been voted the third-best Austrian jazz musician of the year the year before, with the same ranking among guitarists, behind Pat Metheny and James Blood Ulmer.
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It mentions a concert with Werner Pirchner, the Family of Percussion and Steve Swallow in Hamburg, Germany, a seminar by Peter Giger in Wengen, Switzerland, with Ronald Shannon Jackson, and a performance in Moers, Germany, with Wolfgang Puschnig, Wolfgang Reisinger and Mike Richmond. The performances mentioned, Moers in June 1984 and the jazz workshop of the NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk, the public broadcaster for northern Germany) in Hamburg, date the issue to 1984; Nikolaus Kohler cites the collaboration with the Family of Percussion from Jazzlive no. 14, September 1984. It is one of two Jazzlive covers featuring Pepl; the second shows him with Air Mail (no. 20, April 1985).
There is no doubt that Harry Pepl must today be counted among the leading jazz guitarists in Europe.
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30 May 1983 · Radio · FR
Radio France, „Concert de jazz“ (live recording, im INA-Katalog): „Jazz au Théâtre de l'Atelier : Concert du Daniel HUMAIR and Friends“
André Francis (production)
The INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel), the archive of French radio and television, lists a concert recording by Radio France of Monday, 30 May 1983, from the series “Jazz au Théâtre de l'Atelier” at the Théâtre de l'Atelier in Paris, France: “Daniel Humair and Friends” with Daniel Humair (drums), Eric Le Lann (trumpet), Harry Sokal (alto saxophone), Joachim Kühn (piano), Werner Pirchner (vibraphone), Harry Pepl (guitar), Mike Richmond and Dave Holland (double bass), 2 hours 38 minutes. The programme includes pieces by Kühn, Pirchner, Sokal, Holland, Sonny Rollins and Enrico Pieranunzi and Pepl’s “Good-bye, Baby Post” (in the record “Goodbye Baby FOST”). The record evidently swaps the instruments, listing Pepl on vibraphone and percussion and Pirchner on guitar. Record PHY14005123; the recording can only be heard on site at the INAthèque, which does not provide copies.
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18 February 1983 · Review · SL
Glasbena mladina (Slovenian music magazine): Nr. 5: „Plodna jazzovska jesen ’82 v Zagrebu“ (Fruchtbarer Jazzherbst ’82 in Zagreb)
Miro Križič
Review of the Zagreb jazz autumn of 1982 with the fourth International Jazz Fair from 11 to 15 October (with Martial Solal, Stan Tracey, Hans Koller and Joachim Kühn, among others) and further concerts.
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In the same month the duo Jazzzwio (printed “Jazzwio”) with Werner Pirchner (tenor vibraphone, marimba) and Harry Pepl (guitar) performed in the music salon of the Student Centre. Križič praises the combination of Pirchner’s prepared vibraphone and the modern guitar, which, he writes, created a wealth of musical ideas, rhythms and brilliant improvisations.
The combination of the prepared vibraphone, from which Pirchner drew incredible sounds full of vibrating sensitivity, and the modern guitar created a wealth of musical ideas, rhythms and brilliant improvisations.
Miro Križič in his review of the Zagreb jazz autumn of 1982 in the Slovenian music magazine “Glasbena mladina”, on the concert of the Jazzzwio of Werner Pirchner and Harry Pepl in October 1982 in the music salon of the Student Centre in Zagreb, Croatia
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30 October 1982 · Other · DE
steirischer herbst, festival archive (online): „Weltmusikfest der IGNM“, Abend „Jazz Club / Jazz Band Ball“
Entry in the archive of the steirischer herbst festival on the World Music Days of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) 1982 in Graz, Austria: on Saturday, 30 October 1982, at 10 pm the Steirische Herbst Band ’82 under Erich Kleinschuster plays in the Saal Steiermark of the Congress, with Harry Pepl among the 30 musicians named, in the same slot as the Vienna Art Orchestra under Mathias Rüegg; further dates of the band until Thursday, 4 November 1982, in the exhibition hall of the Congress.
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26 October 1982 · Other · SL
Delo (Slovenian daily newspaper, Ljubljana): Nr. 250: Mitteilung des ŠKUC in der Rubrik „Obvestila“
Notice from ŠKUC, the Student Cultural Centre in Ljubljana (Stari trg 21), in the “Obvestila” (notices) column: together with the Austrian Cultural Institute in Zagreb it invites the public to a concert by the jazz duo of Pirchner and Pepl, “Jazz Zwio” (as printed), on Wednesday, 27 October 1982, at 7 pm, with Harry Pepl on electric and acoustic guitar and Werner Pirchner (printed “Perchner”) on tenor vibraphone and marimba. The same notice appeared again on the day of the concert (no. 251, p. 11).
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concert by the jazz duo Pirchner, Pepl, Jazz Zwio (line-up: Harry Pepl, electric and acoustic guitar; Werner Perchner, tenor vibraphone and marimba)
Notice from ŠKUC, the Student Cultural Centre in Ljubljana, in the Slovenian daily “Delo” of Tuesday, 26 October 1982, about the Jazzzwio concert the following evening in Ljubljana, organised together with the Austrian Cultural Institute in Zagreb; “Perchner” is a misprint in the newspaper for Werner Pirchner
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1 October 1982 · Programme booklet · DE
Ars Electronica 1982, Programmbuch: „Jazz und Elektronik“ mit dem Ars-Electronica-Workshop-Ensemble
Programme of the concert on Friday, 1 October 1982, 8 p.m., in the Large Hall of the Brucknerhaus in Linz: the workshop ensemble with François Jeanneau, Wolfgang Dauner, Jasper van't Hof, Harry Pepl, Adelhard Roidinger and Daniel Humair, conceived by Robert Urmann, together with the quartet of Alphonse Mouzon. The workshop in the afternoon was open to the public. The photograph of Pepl in the programme is by Rainer Rygalyk.
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recognised as one of Europe's leading jazz guitarists
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20 May 1982 · Report · DE
Steirerkrone (Neue Kronen Zeitung, Styria edition): „Star mit Witz: Larry Coryell“
Ronnie Herbolzheimer
Report on the concert of the American guitarist Larry Coryell with the Polish violinist Michal Urbaniak at the Münzl in Graz.
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The afternoon before, Coryell visited the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, showed the students some new tricks and played a jam session with Harry Pepl, who, according to the report, greatly impressed him.
to play a jam session with Harry Pepl, by whom he was very impressed.
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6 November 1981 · Other · DE
Rockpalast-Archiv (private fan archive, online): „PIRCHNER-PEPL JAZZZWIO - Metropol Berlin 06.11.1981“
The Rockpalast archive, a privately run fan archive on Rockpalast, the music programme of WDR television (West German Broadcasting), and not a WDR site, lists the Jazzzwio of Werner Pirchner (vibraphone, marimba) and Harry Pepl (guitar) at the Jazz Fest Berlin at the Metropol on Friday, 6 November 1981, with the set list of eight pieces and their durations, around 85 minutes in all: “Berlin '81 Die Erste”, “Gegenwind”, “Homesick”, “Der Tag An Dem Wir Erfuhren, Dass Paul Desmond Gestorben War”, “Drein Sein Beieinader Bleiben”, “Germ In A”, “Raga Nr. 3” and “White Smoke”. In the archive’s production list the evening appears among further Rockpalast recordings at the Metropol from 3 to 8 November 1981, including U2, John Scofield and James Blood Ulmer. The page does not say whether the recording was broadcast or survives.
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17 October 1981 · Other · DE
Donaueschinger Musiktage, festival archive (online): „SWF-Jazz-Session“ (Donaueschinger Musiktage 1981)
The archive of the Donaueschingen Music Days at SWR, one of the oldest festivals of contemporary music (since 1921), lists for Saturday, 17 October 1981, 8.30 pm, in the Donauhalle (hall B) the SWF Jazz Session with “Jonny tritt ab, keine Jazz-Oper für Stimmen und Instrumente in zwei Teilen” (Jonny Exits, no jazz opera for voices and instruments in two parts) by Mathias Rüegg, who also conducted. The performers were the Vienna Art Orchestra and the Stadtkapelle Radolfzell, a town band, with the singers Karin Krog, Lauren Newton and Maggie Nicols, the saxophonist John Surman and Harry Pepl (guitar); the producer was Joachim-Ernst Berendt, jazz editor of Südwestfunk (SWF), the public broadcaster for south-western Germany. For Pepl the archive lists only this evening.
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October 1981 · Other · DE
Sounds (music magazine, Hamburg): „Jazz Fest 81 Berlin“ (Anzeige der Berliner Festspiele, Heft 10/1981, S. 64)
In issue 10 (October 1981) of Sounds, the Hamburg music magazine (1966 to 1983, at first focused on free jazz), the Berliner Festspiele announce the Jazz Fest Berlin of 5 to 8 November 1981 in an advertisement on p. 64. For the Metropol they list “Pirchner-Pepl Jazzzwio/ Defunkt” on Friday, 6 November, at 11 pm; on the other evenings Volker Kriegel, the John Scofield Trio, Michael Gregory Jackson and James “Blood” Ulmer play there. It is an announcement, not a concert report.
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27 June 1981 · Report
Billboard (US-Musikfachzeitschrift mit den Branchen-Charts, gegründet 1894): International: „15th Montreux Begins July 3“ (Vol. 93, Nr. 25)
Short news item in the “International” section on the 15th Montreux International Jazz Festival (Switzerland) from 3 to 19 July 1981, with the programme of every evening.
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For the guitar day on Sunday, 12 July, Billboard lists Harry Pepl alongside James “Blood” Ulmer, Philippe Cauvin, Raphael Fays, Kilimandjaro, Biréli Lagrène, Lee Ritenour, Larry Coryell and Harri Stojka. That evening Pepl played with Werner Pirchner as the Jazzzwio; the item names only him.
(12) James “Blood” Ulmer, Philippe Cauvin, Raphael Fays, Kilimandjaro, Bireli, Lagrene, Harry Pepl, Lee Ritenour, Larry Coryell, Harri Stojka
Programme of the 15th Montreux International Jazz Festival (Switzerland) in Billboard; “(12)” stands for Sunday, 12 July 1981, the festival’s guitar day. Pepl played there with Werner Pirchner as the Jazzzwio; Billboard names only him. Spelling as printed
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15 November 1980 · Other · DE
Brief aus Bangkok: „Benny Goodman war nach dem 2. Konzert voll des Lobes“: Brief an Harry Pepl nach den Berliner Goodman-Konzerten
Kurt A. Müller
Typewritten letter from Bangkok to Harry Pepl in Hernstein, a week after the concerts with Benny Goodman at the Berlin Philharmonie (7 and 8 November 1980).
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According to the family archive, the sender was Goodman's manager Kurt A. Müller, the Swiss friend of Goodman living in Bangkok who co-organised the concerts, chose the musicians in Europe and made the recordings. He reports that Goodman was full of praise after the second concert; during Pepl's solo at the start of the second concert Goodman got going as he had not done for years, and the whole quintet jammed as in Goodman's early years. Goodman's only regret was that Pepl did not play an acoustic guitar. Full text (translated from the German, address omitted): “Mr Harry Pepl, [address], 2560 Hernstein, Lower Austria. 15 November 1980. Dear Mr Pepl, My wife and I have now arrived safely back in Bangkok and still think back often and fondly to the swinging days in Berlin. After the second concert Benny Goodman was full of praise for you and your colleagues. I myself was also glad that everything went so well, because whoever plays with Benny Goodman has to be good, otherwise things can get uncomfortable, since Benny is an absolute perfectionist and demands a great deal of perfection from his musicians too. When you took off with your solo at the start of the second concert, Benny really got going, in a way I had not seen him for many years; Charly, Peter and Don Haas swung along and the whole quintet ‘jammed’ as was only the case in Benny Goodman's early years. He confirmed this to me afterwards too and was in the best of moods. The only thing he regretted was that you did not have a natural guitar, because he would have liked that even better, he said, but it was fine as it was. So once again many thanks for your fine contribution, it was truly a delight for all of us, and the audience went wild, as you can hear again on the tape recordings. The photos are being copied and I will send them to you in a few days. I would be glad to hear from you soon; perhaps you could send me a tape on which you play swinging music, I would then copy it for Benny, if you allow. Warm regards, also from my wife, and all the best. Yours, [signature]”
After the second concert Benny Goodman was full of praise for you and your colleagues.
When you took off with your solo at the start of the second concert, Benny really got going, in a way I had not seen him for many years
Letter from Kurt A. Müller, manager of Benny Goodman, the “King of Swing”, after the second concert at the Berlin Philharmonie in November 1980
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30 April 1980 · Report · DE
Burgenländische Freiheit (gedruckte p. 52, ANNO-p. 44): „Jazz aktuell“ bei Jeunesses Musicales
Short report on the “Jazz aktuell” concert of the Musical Youth on 21 April 1980 in the assembly hall of the Pädagogische Akademie Eisenstadt.
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The quintet “5 Neighbours”, led by the pianist Dieter Glawischnig, was joined as soloists by Werner Pirchner on vibraphone and Harry Pepl on guitar.
Vibraphone and Harry Pepl on guitar demonstrated convincingly