Press on Michel Portal
What was written and broadcast about Harry Pepl and Michel Portal: reviews, portraits, interviews and obituaries, with summary and source.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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11 November 1997 · Report · DE
Wiener Zeitung (p. 4, column „Jazzignal“): „Musikleckerbissen bei Inntönen“
Christian Rösner
Preview of Paul Zauner’s INNtöne festival at Zell an der Pram Castle (November and December 1997).
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The highlight on 5 and 6 December brings together Michel Portal, Alvin Batiste, Steve Shehan, Woody Schabata, Jon Christensen, David Gilmore and Harry Pepl, who has just released a CD on PAO Records on which he plays piano instead of guitar.
let it be said straight away, Pepl does not play guitar but piano
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9 December 1997 · Review · DE
OÖ Nachrichten (culture section): „Wiederholt wechselnde Bündnisse“
Robert Urmann
Review of the INNtöne festival weekend at Zell an der Pram Castle with some 26 musicians in around 14 changing line-ups.
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Urmann misses a concept but praises the Motus string quartet, the Gospel Harmoniers and Pepl’s playing on piano and drums. According to Urmann, Pepl also created outstanding moments with Michel Portal “as a string player”, that is, on guitar. This is Urmann’s account: the preview in the Wiener Zeitung of Tuesday, 11 November 1997, had written in connection with Pepl’s new CD that he was “not playing guitar but piano”; whether he played guitar at the festival remains open.
The piano and drum playing of the guitarist Harry Pepl attracted attention.
As a string player he created fabulous special moments with Michel Portal, who phrased with a keen sense of sound on bass clarinet and soprano.
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10 December 1997 · Review · DE
Kronen Zeitung (p. 28): „Gemeinsame Jazzsprache“
Chris Thommark
Review of INNtöne in the baroque hall of Zell an der Pram Castle: Alvin Batiste as the integrating figure, Michel Portal as mediator, Franz Hackl accompanying Pepl’s piano impressions on trumpet.
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Trumpeter Franz Hackl soulfully accentuated Harry Pepl’s piano impressions
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10 December 1997 · Review · DE
Oberösterreichisches Volksblatt (p. 28): „World Groove Music mitten im Innviertel“
Harald Liehmann
Report from the INNtöne weekend: on the first evening Pepl plays first piano, then drums with the trumpeter Franz Hackl; on the second evening he joins the session of Michel Portal and Stephen Kent with Wolfgang Reisinger and Steve Shehan on piano and guitar.
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After that Harry Pepl played, first on piano, then on drums, while Franz Hackl stayed with his trumpet.
Their joy in playing carried over seamlessly to the audience.
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1 April 2000 · Programme booklet · DE
Sammlung Essl, programme Schömer-Haus: Studio Percussion graz: Xenakis, Pepl, Hölszky
Programme of the concert by Studio Percussion graz under Günter Meinhart at the Schömer-Haus of the Essl Collection in Klosterneuburg on 1 April 2000, with works by Iannis Xenakis and Adriana Hölszky and the world premiere of Pepl's “Zeitraffer”.
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With a note on the work by Pepl and a short biography covering his teaching in Graz, the International Jazz Academy in St. Pölten and the Lower Austrian Jazz Academy in Zeillern. The biography also mentions seminars at the Hamburg music university, the promotion prize (1991) and the honorary prize (1998) of the State of Lower Austria, the quarterly list of the German Record Critics’ Award for the ECM albums of 1983 and 1988, awards from French record critics for “Turbulence” and “Men’s Land” with Michel Portal, festivals in Leverkusen, Ancona and Le Mans, and the Royal Festival Hall in London.
“Le Monde” called Pepl a giant of improvisation.
Art has the task not merely to negate the tendencies of the time, but also to sharpen them.
From his text on “Zeitraffer” for the programme “Einkreisung” at the Essl Collection, a private museum of contemporary art in Klosterneuburg near Vienna, 2000
Harry Pepl
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5 December 2005 · Obituary · DE
Der Standard (Online, APA-Meldung): „Jazzgitarrist Harry Pepl ist tot“
APA
APA report from the day of his death, put online on the afternoon of 5 December 2005: the report states that Pepl died early on Monday in Wiener Neustadt, aged 60. The text calls him a guitarist known far beyond Austria who had worked, among others, with the Benny Goodman Quintet, Dave Holland, Dino Saluzzi and Michel Portal. It is not the print article by Ljubiša Tošić of 6 December 2005.
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He was a guitarist known far beyond Austria
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5 December 2005 · Obituary · DE
APA-Basisdienst (APA0621, culture): „Österreichischer Jazzgitarrist Harry Pepl 60-jährig gestorben“ (Spielte mit vielen internationalen Größen)
APA (initials whl/cm)
News agency report from the day of his death, Monday, 5 December 2005, 5.31 pm, on which many newspapers relied the next day.
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It mentions his guitar studies at the Vienna Academy of Music, his teaching in Graz from 1977 and his professorship from 1984 to 1995, the Pirchner-Pepl-JazzZwio, real-time composing and partners such as the Benny Goodman Quintet, Dave Holland, Dino Saluzzi and Michel Portal; the rector Otto Kolleritsch honours Pepl as an “exceptional figure”.
Pepl was regarded as a musical border-crosser whose music impressed with its vitality, density and emotion.
gifted guitarist
Otto Kolleritsch
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6 December 2005 · Obituary · DE
Neue Vorarlberger Tageszeitung (p. 46, culture): „Jazzmusiker Pepl ist gestorben“
Short report based on the APA: Pepl was a guitarist known far beyond Austria and worked with the Benny Goodman Quintet, Dave Holland, Dino Saluzzi and Michel Portal; it gives Vienna as the place of death.
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6 December 2005 · Obituary · DE
Wiener Zeitung (p. 14, culture): „Jazzgitarrist Harry Pepl tot“
Short obituary based on the APA with his date of birth, partners such as the Benny Goodman Quintet, Dave Holland, Dino Saluzzi and Michel Portal, the Pirchner-Pepl-JazzZwio and his teaching at the Graz Academy of Music from 1977 to 1995, finally as full professor.
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7 December 2005 · Obituary · DE
Die Presse (p. 34, arts section): „Er musste spielen“ (Zum Tod des Wiener Jazzgitarristen Harry Pepl)
initials „sam“
Obituary with the headline quotation „Man könnte Klavierspielen müssen“ [“One might have to play the piano”] from the Concerto interview.
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It describes Real-time Composing, names Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall as well as Schoenberg and Webern as influences, and lists Erich Kleinschuster, the ORF Big Band (ORF: Austria's public broadcaster), JazzZwio, Jack DeJohnette, Art Farmer and Michel Portal as fellow musicians.
The virtuoso, who seemed so introverted on the outside, was bubbling away inside when he played.
He searched passionately: for truthfulness, a utopia in which all opposites coincide.
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14 January 2019 · Radio · FR
France Musique (Radio France), „Les Grands entretiens“: „Michel Portal (1/5): Je me cachais la nuit pour écouter de la musique“
Yvan Amar
First episode of a five-part interview series by Yvan Amar with the clarinettist and saxophonist Michel Portal (27 minutes).
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Among the recordings played is Jack DeJohnette’s “Ahmad The Terrible” with Harry Pepl (guitar), Dave Liebman (soprano saxophone) and Michel Portal (tenor saxophone) from the album “Men’s Land” (Label Bleu).
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25 September 2020 · Radio · DE
Ö1, Spielräume Nachtausgabe: „Der unvergessene Jazzgitarrist Harry Pepl“
Klaus Wienerroither (Gestaltung)
Programme for his 75th birthday on 10 September 2020, broadcast on Friday, 25 September 2020, at 22:25 and repeated on 26 September 2020 at 00:05. Guests include the music producer Daniel Pepl, the drummer Wolfgang Reisinger and the pianist Anna Maurer, who is working on a solo piano album of Pepl’s compositions. According to the running order, recorded statements by Wolfgang Muthspiel and Guido Jesenzky on Harry Pepl as musician and as teacher were added. The music ranged from the Austrian Evergreens (1960) via Benny Goodman, the Jazzzwio, Air Mail, Michel Portal, Enrico Rava and the Kronos Quartet to the Fullmax releases of 2015 and 2020. Muthspiel requested “The Day We Know Paul Desmond Is Gone”, Jesenzky “Germ in A” (both Jazzzwio); Anna Maurer contributed her version of “Air, Love & Vitamins” (2020). Director: Daniela Fietzek, sound engineer: Georg Janser.
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His Austrian-American quartet Airmail was probably one of the best jazz groups of Austrian provenance.