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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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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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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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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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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9 May 1993 · Review · DE
Kurier (p. 22): „Pepl-Uraufführung beim Artis-Quartett-Zyklus“
Werner Schuster
Concert review of the Artis-Quartett evening in the Brahms Hall, with Brahms’s Piano Quintet and the world premiere of Pepl’s string quartet between Beethoven and Brahms.
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The critic praises the Artis-Quartett and considers the fragile work too good to serve as an interlude between the great pieces.
his work, hesitantly starting again and again, fragile, conveying grief, is too good for use as a sandwich filler
his hesitant, ever re-beginning, fragile work conveying grief is too good to be a sandwich filling.
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30 May 1993 · Review · DE
Kurier (p. 21): „Raab-mood - eine Suche“
Peter Klimitsch
Mood report from the first day of the Whitsun jazz festival in Raab (Friday, 28, to Sunday, 30 May 1993) with the Gary Bartz Quartet and Horace Parlan.
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Air Mail played with Jean-Paul Celea (called “Jean-Pierre” in the text) instead of Palle Danielsson on double bass; Pepl is described as „Gitarren-Mastermind“ [“guitar mastermind”].
Airmail, with Jean-Pierre Celea instead of Palle Danielsson on double bass, was devoted to guitar mastermind Harry Pepl.
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1994 · Review · DE
magazine (title not preserved), record review: Harry Pepl Quartet: „N.Y.C. Impressure“
Record review of “N.Y.C. Impressure” (Extraplatte (Vienna independent label) EX 203-2, recorded 6/92 at the Active Recording Studio, New York): according to the review, Pepl, a native of Lower Austria, has been experimenting with the MIDI guitar for years, and his new hobbyhorse is real-time composing. The album is said to reflect the mood, colours and rhythmic density of New York, realised with Claus Stötter, Paul Nowinski and Jojo Mayer. Rating (8).
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The Lower Austrian Harry Pepl loves the battle with “Bits and Bytes”.
His latest hobby-horse goes by the name of “real-time-composing”.
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1994 · Review · DE
Buchkultur (Vienna): Musiktipp „Harry Pepl Quartet: N. Y. C. imPressure“
The Viennese magazine Buchkultur recommends the album “N.Y.C.
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Impressure” by the Harry Pepl Quartet: recorded after a concert in New York City, it conveys the impressions of the four musicians. The tip appears next to new releases by the Austrian singer-songwriter Hans Söllner and the band Hole.
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7 May 1994 · Review · DE
Salzburger Nachrichten: „Verständigungen über den Gartenzaun“ (Jazz-Gitarristen: Harry Pepls Comeback, Ray Cooder, Doctor Blocher, Bill Frisell)
Wolfgang Gratzer
Short review of the new album: the reviewer writes that Pepl, one of the continent’s most individual guitarists, is stepping out of his seclusion with his quartet recorded in New York (Claus Stöttner, Paul Nowinski, Jojo Mayer).
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Thanks to cleverly pre-planned pieces and compelling solos, the author counts the record among the most exciting things produced in Austria in recent years.
The Viennese Harry Pepl, who counts among the most distinctive guitarists on the continent
is among the most exciting things produced in this country in recent years.
recorded an album which, thanks to its so cleverly conceived tracks, ploughed through with compelling solos, ranks among the most exciting things produced in this country in recent years.
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24 May 1994 · Review · DE
Kronen Zeitung (p. 17): Kurzkritik vom Innviertler Jazzfestival in Raab
initials „CT“ (vermutlich Chris Thommark)
Report from the third day (Sunday, 22 May 1994) of the Innviertel jazz festival in the Rothuberhalle in Raab: Jack DeJohnette spontaneously joins Idris Muhammad’s Afro Beat and later plays a duo with Pepl, who holds dialogues on guitar synthesizer with DeJohnette on piano and drums.
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Alternating between piano and drums, he engaged in dialogues with Harry Pepl on guitar synthesizer.
These were sound meditations between expansive and concentrated, in lyrical solitude and orchestral fullness of sound.
Kürzel CT (vermutlich Chris Thommark)
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24 May 1994 · Review · DE
Der Standard (p. 10): „Zwischen Räucherstäbchen-Blues und festlicher Marching-Band-Tarnung“
Ljubiša Tošić
Festival review from Raab with Dr. John, Ray Anderson and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Beyond the nostalgic acts, Tošić singles out the live session of Jack DeJohnette (drums and piano) and Harry Pepl.
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Drummer and pianist Jack DeJohnette and guitarist Harry Pepl, for instance, gave a live session there.
after all, there were moments of intensity that one would not have wanted to miss on any account
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26 May 1994 · Review · DE
Salzburger Nachrichten (p. 8): „Neue Symptome einer Krankheit“ (Das Jazzfestival in Raab ist als „Innviertler Jazzfestival“ wiederauferstanden)
Wolfgang Lamprecht
Review of the first Innviertel jazz festival, which Paul Zauner continued with his own association after the end of the association Kunst und Kultur Raab.
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Lamprecht highlights Jack DeJohnette, who appeared above all as a pianist and played an intimate duo with Pepl on drums.
as a kindred-spirited improviser on drums in a thrillingly intimate dialogue with the string electronics player and creative sound colourist Harry Pepl
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27 May 1994 · Review · DE
Der Standard: „Der Groove-Professor gibt sich recht unberechenbar“
Ljubiša Tošić
Record review of “N.Y.C. Impressure”: the funky rhythm section plays flat out, and after years dominated by play with sound, Pepl’s guitar is again recognisable as a guitar sound, with the MIDI guitar serving only as an atmospheric addition.
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Tošić hears a groovy affair with a rock-style distorted tone and highly individual phrasing; sound quality very good.
On N.Y.C. Impressure his guitar sound is once again recognisable as such.
Of course his phrasing is once again highly individual, which means: appealing and pleasantly unpredictable.
And so it may well happen that the guitar professor shines with a rock-distorted sound.
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19 August 1995 · Review · DE
Salzburger Nachrichten: „Könnte Jazz sein“ (Neues von Österreichern)
Wolfgang Gratzer
CD column on Werner Pirchner, Harry Pepl and Wolfgang Mitterer.
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Gratzer recalls a Jeunesse evening by the Jazzzwio, which made it as far as the Montreux Jazz Festival, calls the album “Gegenwind” a collector’s item and reviews Pepl’s roughly 20-minute commissioned work “Anspannen, Überspannen, Abspannen” for STUDIO PERCUSSION graz (Extraplatte 242-2), underlaid with a tape Pepl recorded on MIDI guitar.
were, in their day, attuned to one another in the most original improvising manner
Thus five sound pictures open up whose colourful motion exerts a considerable pull
were back then attuned to each other in the most original improvising way. Their “Gegenwind” album now turns out to be a collector’s item.
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5 November 1995 · Review · DE
Kronen Zeitung (p. 26): Plattenkritik zu „Abstract Truth - Beginnings“
initials „CT“ (vermutlich Chris Thommark)
Review of the CD “Beginnings” by Abstract Truth (PAO Records, Taufkirchen an der Pram, supported by the state of Upper Austria): music for quiet hours, in which Pepl shapes the two-part melody group and electronically steers his instrument from vibraphone to organ registers.
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In the two-part melody group, guitarist Harry Pepl is the defining creative force.
Kürzel CT (vermutlich Chris Thommark)
He controls his instrument electronically, from the vibraphone to the organ register.
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26 February 1996 · Review · DE
Kronen Zeitung (p. 16): „Mythos und Zielpunkte“
Review of two CDs by Günter Meinhart’s STUDIO PERCUSSION graz.
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Extraplatte 242, with pieces by Pepl, Wolfgang Muthspiel and Armin Pokorn, offers in the reviewer’s words colourful, electronically supported expression; Pepl wrote „albträumerische Filmmusik“ [“nightmarish film music”].
Richly coloured, electronically supported expression with an enormous range
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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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5 April 2000 · Review · DE
NÖN Niederösterreichische Nachrichten (p. 18, culture): „Im Zentrum der Einkreisung“ (Uraufführung von Harry Pepls grandiosem „Zeitraffer“ im Schömer-Haus)
Ewald Baringer
Review of the premiere of “Zeitraffer” for percussion ensemble and tape on Saturday, 1 April 2000, at the Schömer-Haus in Klosterneuburg (Lower Austria, Austria), in the concert series of the Essl Collection.
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The six musicians of STUDIO PERCUSSION graz played on the circular galleries around the audience; Baringer heard a deeply feeling, very contemporary musician and hoped the piece would come out on CD.
A truly brilliant stroke by the legendary guitarist and composer.
A play with waves and tides, in the pull of the speed of the moment
On his work “Zeitraffer”, 2000
Harry Pepl
This was no bloodless composer at work, but a deeply feeling, very contemporary musician who has emotion and creative intelligence equally at his disposal.
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26 November 2000 · Review · DE
Neue Zeit (p. 38, culture): „Die Moderne in der Perkussion“
Andreas Fellinger
Review of an evening of Berndt Luef’s “Autumn Concerts” at the Forum Stadtpark in Graz (Austria): STUDIO PERCUSSION graz, just back from a drum festival in Seoul, played works by Adriana Hölszky and Iannis Xenakis and Pepl’s “Zeitraffer” with tape.
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ORF (Austria’s public broadcaster) recorded the concert for its programme “Zeit-Ton”.
a brilliant, atmospherically dense, wildly grooving “Zeitraffer” by Harry Pepl
Harry Pepl’s brilliant, atmospherically dense, wildly grooving “Zeitraffer”
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2001 · Review · DE
Concerto (music magazine), issue 5/2001, p. 54: „Fünf Variationen österreichischer Jazzkunst“ (Austrian Jazzart)
Jörg Weitlaner
Joint review of the first five CDs of Universal Music’s Austrian Jazzart series (reissues of Austrian jazz albums).
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First comes “Light Blues” by Air Mail, the quartet’s second and last record, with Wolfgang Puschnig, Wolfgang Reisinger and Mike Richmond. Pepl describes the band’s “telepathic understanding”; the review quotes from the liner notes (by Andreas Felber according to Discogs) his playing “marked by rough, jagged cascades of notes” and highlights the then still young MIDI technology. For Wolfgang Puschnig’s “Pieces Of The Dream” (No. 5) Pepl is named among the duo partners.
playing marked by rough, jagged cascades of notes
Andreas Felber
The interplay of the whole band, in which we had developed a telepathic understanding, was what made Airmail special for me.
Looking back in 2001 on his quartet Air Mail
Harry Pepl
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26 August 2002 · Review · DE
Salzburger Nachrichten (p. 10, culture): „Grooven nach Mitternacht“ (Jazzfestival Saalfelden 2002)
Clemens Panagl
Report from the 24th International Jazzfestival Saalfelden (Salzburg, Austria). On Saturday, 24 August 2002, Christian and Wolfgang Muthspiel paid tribute to Pepl and Pirchner and showed how relevant the Pirchner and Pepl oeuvre still is.
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Avalanches of sound also characterise the playing of the Austrian guitarist Harry Pepl.
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28 November 2002 · Review · DE
Salzburger Nachrichten (p. 14, culture): „Heimweh, Jodler und Zwiefache“
initials „PAC“
Short review of Wolfgang and Christian Muthspiel’s homage to the Jazzzwio on Tuesday, 26 November 2002, at the Ziegelstadel in Hallein (Salzburg, Austria).
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It starts from the Jazzzwio piece “Homesick”, whose homesickness leaves open whether it is for faraway places or for home itself.
the duo also made audible the timeless aesthetic qualities of a music that has lost nothing of its relevance
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24 January 2003 · Review · DE
Neue Vorarlberger Tageszeitung (p. 41, culture): „Diffizile Jazz-Spielereien“
Martin Juen
Review of the concert by the Wolfgang Muthspiel Trio with Marc Johnson and Brian Blade on Wednesday, 22 January 2003, at the Spielboden in Dornbirn (Vorarlberg, Austria), opening the “Jazz&” series.
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Alongside Thelonious Monk and Vince Mendoza, Muthspiel paid tribute to his teacher Pepl in the programme.
Muthspiel’s most formative teacher, Harry Pepl
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22 November 2003 · Review · DE
Kronen Zeitung (p. 30): „Nostalgische Bruderschaft“ (Muthspiel und Muthspiel im Grazer M59)
initials „ME“
Review of Christian and Wolfgang Muthspiel’s evening at the Graz jazz club M59 in Münzgrabenstraße 59 with compositions by Pirchner, the film “Der Untergang des Alpenlandes” and the programme “Early Music”.
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At the same venue the brothers had heard the Jazzzwio as young listeners.
25 years ago the Muthspiel brothers themselves sat in the audience at Münzgrabenstraße 59 and marvelled at Werner Pirchner and Harry Pepl.
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17 December 2003 · Review · DE
Kurier (p. 30, culture): „Exzellente Musiker und exzellente Musik“ (Österreichische Jazz-Produktionen 2003)
Werner Rosenberger
Review of the year’s Austrian jazz releases with gift tips. From the “Austrian Jazzart” series Rosenberger singles out the concert recording “Live at Miles Smiles” by Pepl, Pirchner and Georg Polansky.
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Very lively, too, an almost historic live recording, “Live at Miles Smiles”
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18 May 2004 · Review · DE
Salzburger Nachrichten (p. 12, culture): „JAZZ“ (Wolfgang Muthspiel: „Air, Love & Vitamins“)
Short review of Wolfgang Muthspiel’s trio album “Air, Love & Vitamins” (Quinton Records) with Marc Johnson and Brian Blade, whose title comes from Pepl’s composition, with concert dates in Salzburg, Freistadt and Vienna.
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The title comes from a composition by the grand old master of jazz guitar, Harry Pepl
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31 August 2004 · Review · DE
Der Standard (p. 24, culture): „Sicherheitsdenken und ‚positive Signale‘“ (Ausklang des Jazzfestivals Saalfelden 2004)
Andreas Felber
Report from the Saalfelden jazz festival 2004. In one of his rare solo concerts, on Sunday, 29 August 2004, Wolfgang Muthspiel reflected, among other things, the playing of his teacher Pepl.
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the rugged rhapsodic style of a Harry Pepl
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6 November 2004 · Review · DE
APA-Basisdienst (APA0059, culture): „‚Es fehlen die Visionäre‘: Dennoch hohes Niveau im heimischen Jazz“ (Salzburger Jazzherbst 2004)
Christoph Lindenbauer
Assessment of the Austrian concerts at the ninth Salzburger Jazzherbst (jazz festival in Salzburg, Austria).
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As one of two truly risky projects the APA (Austria Presse Agentur, national news agency) names the “Habanero” slide show, in which young horn players improvised to Pepl’s sounds and Rainer Rygalyk’s pictures.
The photographer Rainer Rygalyk and the former world-class guitarist Harry Pepl invited young horn players to improvise over sampled sounds and pictures.
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29 April 2006 · Review · DE
Kronen Zeitung (p. 25): „Zu einer Hommage an Werner Pirchner und Harry Pepl geriet der …“ (GrazJazz 2006)
initials „TS“
Short review of the third evening of GrazJazz 2006 at the Orpheum in Graz (Austria): Christian Muthspiel, Franck Tortiller and Georg Breinschmid paid homage to the music of Pirchner and Pepl, a demanding and dignified tribute.
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finally Christian Muthspiel, Franck Tortiller and Breinschmid paid homage to the music of the two recently deceased exceptional talents
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30 April 2006 · Review · DE
Kleine Zeitung (p. 86, culture): „Der spürbare Geist des Komponisten“ (GrazJazz 2006)
Franz Remmalk (Schreibung laut APA)
Review of the third day of GrazJazz 2006: with his new trio Christian Muthspiel arranged the music of Pirchner and that of his long-time musical companion Pepl; with Franck Tortiller on vibraphone the result was a superbly polished concert with a strikingly transparent sound.
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a superbly polished concert that lingered on long afterwards, piece by piece
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2007 · Review · DE
Concerto (music magazine), issue 2/2007, p. 6 (CD-Tipps): „Born in Austria“ (CD-Tipp zu „Against The Wind“)
Alfred Krondraf
Short review of the album “Against The Wind. The Music Of Pirchner & Pepl” by the Christian Muthspiel Trio with Georg Breinschmid and Franck Tortiller: Muthspiel devotes himself for the second time to the music of the “two musical free spirits”, and Tortiller turns “the Zwio into a more than perfect trio”; the substance of the interpretations only reveals itself on repeated listening.
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Christian Muthspiel now devotes himself for the second time to the music of the two musical free spirits
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15 April 2007 · Review · DE
Neue Vorarlberger Tageszeitung (p. 77, culture): „Pepl und Pirchner in besten Händen“
Martin Juen
Review of the Christian Muthspiel Trio concert at the Spielboden in Dornbirn on Friday, 13 April 2007: the trio refreshes the pieces respectfully, and in every arrangement fresh fruit grows on old ground. Juen dates the Jazzzwio to 1978 to 1985.
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quite different and yet outstanding personalities of the Austrian jazz scene
Harry Pepl (1945-2005) and Werner Pirchner (1940-2001) were rather different and yet outstanding personalities of the Austrian jazz scene
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15 April 2007 · Review · DE
Kleine Zeitung (p. 111, culture): „Schatz“ (CD-Kritik zu „Against The Wind“)
initials „TSC“
Short review of the album “Against The Wind” (Universal): Christian Muthspiel finds an ingenious translation for the music that belongs to his “innermost vocabulary”; Pirchner’s film comes as a DVD bonus.
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It is a “hats off!” to the most original Jazzzwio from Tyrol to Texas: the late Harry Pepl & Werner Pirchner.
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18 April 2007 · Review · DE
Falter (p. 66, Kultur: Neue Platten): „Neue Platten“ (Chr. Muthspiel Trio: „Against the Wind“)
initials „K. N.“
Record review: in an only gently ironic, rather romantic way the album combines blues with Alpine elements, for instance in Pepl’s “Die alte Mär und das Mann”, and in the dialogue of trombone, marimba, vibraphone and bass creates a mostly light-footed groove.
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The album by the elder of the two Muthspiel brothers is dedicated to the work of the twin stars Harry Pepl and Werner Pirchner, who have sadly already left us
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11 June 2007 · Review · DE
NÖN Niederösterreichische Nachrichten (p. 50, culture): „KRITIK Schräges Sprach- und Klangspiel“
Gottfried Sengstschmid
Review of Christian Muthspiel’s evening at the Stadttheater in Wiener Neustadt (Lower Austria, Austria) during the “Wiener Neustädter Frühling”: after the Jandl solo performance, the trio with Franck Tortiller and Georg Breinschmid paid homage to Pirchner and Pepl.
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a cheerful, if wistful, remembrance of the two colourful characters of the former “Jazz-Zwio”
a homage to Werner Pirchner and Harry Pepl, a jaunty if wistful remembrance of the two colourful birds of the former “Jazz-Zwio”
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27 September 2007 · Review · DE
Kronen Zeitung (p. 47): „Den Konventionen ausweichen“ (Gedenken an die Jazzlegenden Pepl & Pirchner)
initials „PB“
Review of the Christian Muthspiel Trio concert at the Posthof in Linz (Upper Austria, Austria) on Tuesday, 25 September 2007, with Pirchner’s film “Der Untergang des Alpenlandes”: the trio renders the scores with spherical lightness yet vital expression.
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Both are remembered for the illustrious coherence of their compositional and improvisational interplay.
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3 October 2007 · Review · DE
Kleine Zeitung (p. 63, culture): „Charakterkopf, kunstsinnig geschliffen“
Otmar Klammer
Review of the Christian Muthspiel Trio’s Pirchner/Pepl programme on Monday, 1 October 2007, at the Generalmusikdirektion in Graz: a grand concert of touching chamber-music intimacy, in which Pirchner’s compositions were in the foreground and Pepl was only touched upon.
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Harry Pepl, Pirchner’s congenial partner in the legendary “Jazzzwio”
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18 January 2009 · Review · DE
Kurier (p. 38, culture section): „JAZZZWIO: Harry Pepl & Werner Pirchner (Universal)“
Werner Rosenberger (initials „ros“)
Short review of the reissue “Live in Concerts” with audio and video recordings from Montreux 1981 and Innsbruck 1984.
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Two original home-grown musicians, both of whom had to go far too soon and are unforgotten
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13 February 2009 · Review · DE
Die Presse (Online): „Jazzzwio, Live In Concerts“ (Zwio Infernal)
Samir H. Köck
Short review of the reissue of the 1981 Montreux concert (EmArcy/Universal). The text pays tribute to the duo of guitar and vibraphone as unusual chamber music of the 1980s, whose cascades of sound, the text says, have stayed in the memory of contemporaries.
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The superb guitarist Harry Pepl and his perfectly matched partner
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20 February 2009 · Review · DE
Die Presse (Online): „Wolfgang Schalk: Wanted“
Samir H. Köck
Short review of the album “Wanted” by the Styrian guitarist Wolfgang Schalk, recorded in Los Angeles. It singles out the piece “And Harry Said Goodbye”, which Schalk dedicated to Harry Pepl.
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Particularly beautiful is ‘And Harry Said Goodbye’, dedicated to the unforgotten colleague Harry Pepl.
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24 February 2009 · Review · DE
KULTUR, Zeitschrift für Kultur und Gesellschaft (Dornbirn): „JazzZwio: Live in Concerts“ (CD-Tipp)
Peter Füssl
CD recommendation by Peter Füssl in KULTUR, a cultural magazine from Vorarlberg, Austria, for the CD/DVD “Live in Concerts” (Universal, 2009).
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Füssl recalls the legendary JazzZwio of Pepl and Werner Pirchner between 1977 and 1985 and describes the contents: 43 minutes from the 15th Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland) in 1981 and excerpts from concerts at the Szene Wien in Vienna (1983) and the Konservatoriumssaal in Innsbruck, Austria (1984), with pieces such as “The Day We Know Paul Desmond is Gone”, “Against The Wind”, “Hosent’Raga” and “Air Love And Vitamins”. He calls the two “absolute individualists” whose interplay adds up to far more than the sum of its parts, notes that so far mainly the Muthspiel brothers (the Austrian jazz musicians Christian and Wolfgang Muthspiel) have kept their memory alive, and hopes the recordings will bring the Jazzzwio wider recognition, above all among younger musicians.
Great moments of brilliantly offbeat music and gnarled humour
the playful wit of these two strong characters, one Viennese and one Tyrolean to the core, still sounds fresh as morning dew more than 25 years after the recordings were made
On the CD/DVD “Live in Concerts” (2009) with Jazzzwio concerts from 1981 to 1984; Pepl was Viennese, Werner Pirchner Tyrolean, and each brought his own regionally coloured humour into the music
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6 March 2009 · Review · DE
Der Standard (Print 6 March 2009, online 5 March 2009, Rubrik Musikrundschau): „Zwio und Trio“ (Neue Jazz-Alben von Werner Pirchner & Harry Pepl, Pablo Milanes & Chucho Valdes u. a.)
“Musikrundschau” (music roundup) with a short review of “Jazzzwio: Live in Concerts” (Universal): according to the text, Pirchner and Pepl are worth remembering, the duo of guitar and vibraphone having supplied model examples of heated chamber music.
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The DVD is called a must. The date, 13 February 2009, is derived from the article number.
Harry Pepl, a complex guitarist of truly international stature
The creative fury, the intensity achieved there still seems to set the standard today.
Harry Pepl, a complex guitarist of truly international stature.
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10 March 2009 · Review · DE
Die Presse (p. 27, arts section): „Tränen mit John Dowland“
initials „sam“ (Samir H. Köck)
Review of the presentation of “Dancing Dowland” by the Christian Muthspiel Trio at the Porgy & Bess.
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In the second set the trio played Pepl and Pirchner; Muthspiel told how Pirchner once announced a still untitled Pepl piece on stage as “Da augschissene Wandersbuasch” (roughly: the poor wretch of a wanderer), whereupon Pepl gave it the title “Air, Love & Vitamins”.
a composition that is now regarded as an Austrian jazz classic
Samir H. Köck (Kürzel „sam“)
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18 March 2009 · Review · DE
Falter (Seite w27, Lexikon: Neue Platten): „Neue Platten“ (JazzZwio: „Live in Concerts“)
initials „KN“
Record review of “Live in Concerts”: the recordings from the early 1980s show the energy of the two, who take turns as grooving accompanists, ranging from almost free passages to the melodious romanticism of “Air, Love & Vitamins”.
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The DVD contains the Montreux concert, excerpts from a performance at the Szene Wien and interview snippets.
With their JazzZwio, the guitarist Harry Pepl and the vibraphonist Werner Pirchner were internationally sought-after protagonists of Alpine groove.
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20 March 2009 · Review · DE
Kronen Zeitung (p. 36, Styria): „Den Namen umweht Magie: JazzZwio hieß ein Duo, das in den 80-ern ...“
initials „MG“
Short review of “Live in Concerts” with DVD: JazzZwio with Pirchner and Pepl in Montreux in 1981, plus a live recording from Innsbruck. The closing sentence appears word for word as the page header on the old website page “Air, Love & Vitamins”.
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If there are classics of Austrian jazz, here is one!
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9 November 2009 · Review · DE
NÖN Niederösterreichische Nachrichten (p. 49, culture): „KRITIK ‚musik aktuell‘“
Gottfried Sengstschmid
Review of a Christian Muthspiel Trio concert at the Stadtmuseum in the “musik aktuell” series: after “Dancing Dowland”, the hour-long encore recalled the Jazzzwio, among other pieces with Pepl’s “Da augschissene Wandersbuasch” and Pirchner’s “Hosent'Raga”.
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an Alpine ballad (Da augschissene Wandersbuasch) by the Viennese Harry Pepl
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24 November 2010 · Review · DE
Kronen Zeitung: „Schwülstige Fadesse“
MW
Report on the closing night of the 20th Austrian Soundcheck at the Orpheum in Graz: Stefan Heckel receives the third Harry Pepl Prize as the starting point for a doctoral thesis on Pepl's legacy, whose work, according to festival director Gerhard Kosel, still awaits scholarly study. As a prelude, Daniel Riegler (prize winner 2008) and Matthias Muche play three of Pepl's real-time compositions as a trombone duo.
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Since the death of the great guitarist and composer Harry Pepl (1945-2005), his work still awaits scholarly study, says Soundcheck director Gerhard Kosel.
As a prelude, Daniel Riegler (Pepl Prize winner 2008) and Matthias Muche had performed three “real-time compositions” by the master as a trombone duo.
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24 November 2010 · Review · DE
Kleine Zeitung: „Eine Jazz Big Band, die Seelen baumeln lässt“
Otmar Klammer
Concert report from the finale of the Austrian Soundcheck: Stefan Heckel accepts the Harry Pepl Prize, endowed with 4,500 euros, and announces that he will devote himself to the namesake's work as a scholar.
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A few days before the fifth anniversary of Pepl's death, the trombone duo Daniel Riegler and Matthias Muche plays three arrangements of Pepl pieces, among them “125/250” from the Air Mail years.
A few days before the fifth anniversary of the death of the Viennese jazz guitarist and composer, the trombone duo Daniel Riegler and Matthias Muche delivered three elegantly polished arrangements, of which the notorious “125/250” from Pepl's Airmail days came closest to his jagged style.
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11 December 2010 · Review · DE
Süddeutsche Zeitung (Landkreisteil): „Wilder Wind aus Österreich“
Patrizia Steipe
Concert report from the Kulturkeller in Feldafing (Bavaria, Germany): on Wednesday, 8 December 2010, the Christian Muthspiel Trio plays its programme “Against the Wind” with the music of Werner Pirchner and Harry Pepl.
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The Süddeutsche Zeitung calls the two a cult duo and their Jazzzwio a group that gave European jazz important impulses; the preview appeared on 4 December 2010.
In the seventies and eighties Pirchner and Pepl formed the legendary “Jazz-Zwio”, a group that gave European jazz important impulses.
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30 January 2012 · Review · DE
Die Presse: „Wer hat von wem abgekupfert?“
sam
Review of Georgie Fame with the Mike Sponza Blues Convention at the Porgy & Bess. Die Presse praises the guitarist Primož Grašič as a former student of Harry Pepl.
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the superb former Harry Pepl student Primoz Grasic
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20 June 2013 · Review · DE
Tiroler Tageszeitung: „Im Banne von zwei Legenden“
hau
Report on the first Laurentius concert on the Bergl in Imst (Tyrol): on Thursday, 13 June 2013, Stephan Mathoi (guitar) and Philipp Hager (vibraphone) play pieces by Werner Pirchner and Harry Pepl as well as their own compositions.
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Preview on 12 June 2013 (“Entgleiste Klassik am Imster Bergl”).
Admittedly, the qualities of the legendary duo of Werner Pirchner & Harry Pepl in the line-up of guitar and vibraphone are and remain unmatched.
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28 March 2014 · Review · DE
Die Presse: „Werner Pirchner: Genie und Irrsinn“
Christoph Huber
Review of Malte Ludin's documentary “D.U.D.A.!” about Werner Pirchner. Die Presse recalls the Pirchner-Pepl Jazz-Zwio and the duo's collaboration with Jack DeJohnette.
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With his kindred partner Harry Pepl he also collaborated impressively with great jazz musicians such as Jack DeJohnette.
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1 April 2014 · Review · DE
Der Standard: „Vom verspielten Tiefsinn“
Ljubiša Tošić
Review of “D.U.D.A.!” about Werner Pirchner. The film, the critic regrets, recalls only briefly the international side of his career, the JazzZwio with Harry Pepl; online as early as 31 March 2014.
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Together with the guitarist Harry Pepl, the vibraphonist Pirchner ran a “JazzZwio” whose subtly burning chamber music attracted attention throughout Europe
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1 September 2015 · Review · DE
Der Standard: „Im Salon der munteren Katharsis“
Ljubiša Tošić
Report from the final day of the Jazzfestival Saalfelden 2015: Christian Muthspiel remembers Werner Pirchner with his trio and thus also Pirchner's Jazzzwio with Harry Pepl, as chamber music marked by respectful affection for the original.
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Online as early as 31 August 2015.
Together with the guitarist Harry Pepl he formed the Jazzzwio, and Muthspiel recalls that too
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1 September 2015 · Review · DE
Salzburger Nachrichten: „Das Beste? Es kam auch diesmal zum Schluss“
Report from the Jazzfestival Saalfelden 2015: Christian Muthspiel, Franck Tortiller and Jerome Harris delve deep into the work of Werner Pirchner and also of the Viennese guitarist Harry Pepl, with whom Pirchner formed the legendary Jazzzwio.
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Muthspiel takes the “throaty K” out of this music, but successfully brings out its inner light and its elegance.
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3 September 2015 · Review · DE
Die Furche: „Traditionen kippen - und Neues entsteht“
Anton Thuswaldner
Festival report from Saalfelden 2015: with Franck Tortiller and Jerome Harris, Christian Muthspiel remembers Werner Pirchner, who formed the legendary Jazz-Zwio with Harry Pepl.
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Together with Harry Pepl he formed the legendary Jazz-Zwio
Together with Harry Pepl he formed the legendary Jazz-Zwio, to which we owe such immortal titles as “Hosentraga”, which takes up the form of the Indian raga.
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15 November 2015 · Review · DE
Kronen Zeitung (Styria): „Kritik in Kürze“
MW
Short review from the Austrian Soundcheck at the Orpheum in Graz on the tenth anniversary of Pepl's death (concert on Friday, 13 November 2015): the quartet around Clemens Salesny has an extraordinary encounter with Harry Pepl, who is virtually present through late recordings from his home studio.
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He was virtually present as a multi-instrumentalist, with those late recordings from his home studio in which he pushed through to pure, intuitive expressive sound.
interacted with the master as if he were sitting on stage, and still conquered spaces of their own, exciting, powerful, free.
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11 December 2015 · Review · DE
Der Standard (RONDO): CD-Tipp zu „Harry Pepl & Salesny/Bayer/Frosch/Heginger“
Ljubiša Tošić
CD tip in RONDO (Der Standard's magazine) on the double CD released by Fullmax Recordings: unreleased recordings by the great guitarist, over whose lines and songs Clemens Salesny and Agnes Heginger, among others, lay their art; the second CD brings arrangements of Pepl classics.
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The late great guitarist Harry Pepl with unreleased recordings!
Works extremely well.
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16 December 2015 · Review · DE
Falter: „Neue Platten“ (Jazz)
KN
Short review of the double CD released by Fullmax Recordings: the idea of using Pepl's unreleased improvisations as the starting point for further improvisation convinces the Falter only in part, the second CD with Pepl's compositions all the more.
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on which the whole range and the idiosyncrasy of Pepl's compositions, with great verve and just as much wit
the whole spectrum and the idiosyncrasy of Pepl’s compositions, presented with great verve and just as much wit (plus a few guest musicians).
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18 December 2015 · Review · DE
Kleine Zeitung: CD-Tipp zu „Harry Pepl & Salesny/Bayer/Primus/Heginger“
Short review of the double CD: Pepl, a “guitar giant”, can wondrously be heard again after his death; a quartet around Agnes Heginger and Clemens Salesny weaves the improvising genius's archive recordings into something excitingly new.
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Printed on the same day in two editions (pp. 82 and 88).
He was a guitar giant
wove archive recordings of the improvising genius into something excitingly new
A quartet around Agnes Heginger (voc) and Clemens Salesny (sax) wove archive recordings of the improvising genius into something excitingly new.
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20 December 2015 · Review · DE
Kurier (Diskothek, CDs der Woche): „Salesny, Bayer, Frosch und Heginger: Harry Pepl“
Werner Rosenberger
CD of the week with five stars: young Austrian musicians remember Harry Pepl on the tenth anniversary of his death; the double CD brings partly familiar and partly unreleased material by “Harry Pepl's Lonely Single Swinger Band”, recorded between 1996 and 2005.
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The Viennese guitarist and musical border-crosser was in a class of his own
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2016 · Review · DE
Jazzpodium: „Harry Pepl & Clemens Salesny, Martin Bayer, Peter Primus Frosch, Agnes Heginger, Fullmax15-01 CD“
Alexander Schmitz
Review of the 2015 double CD in the German jazz magazine Jazzpodium, probably 2016. Schmitz recalls Le Monde's “giant of improvisation”, Scofield's “machine gun”, the Jazzzwio, Air Mail and the MIDI guitar that first made Real Time Composing possible.
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He describes twelve previously unreleased soliloquies from the Lonely Single Swinger Band and 13 Pepl compositions in a new guise with Clemens Salesny, Martin Bayer, Peter Primus Frosch and Agnes Heginger, with Herbert Joos, Alex Meissl and Clemens Wenger as guests.
which now brings the name of the great Viennese guitarist Harry Pepl back into public awareness with a project of equal stature
There is nothing at all to say that could even come close to capturing this late, magnificent Pepl spectacle.
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17 May 2016 · Review · DE
Der Standard (Online): „Inntöne: Expressive Gelassenheit“ (Al Foster und das Harry-Pepl-Projekt)
Ljubiša Tošić
Festival report from the INNtöne in Diersbach (Upper Austria, Austria) at Whitsun 2016. After the Al Foster Quartet, Ljubiša Tošić describes a quintet with a special feature: alongside Clemens Salesny, Agnes Heginger, Martin Bayer and Peter Primus Frosch, Harry Pepl was there too, from tape, his ideas recorded in his home studio forming the foundation of a high-energy mix; Tošić calls the evening an impulsive homage to one of the greats of European jazz. Printed in the edition of 18 May 2016, p. 30.
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Al Foster and the Harry Pepl project
The late grandmaster of impulsive improvisation
An impulsive homage to one of the greats of European jazz.
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17 May 2016 · Review · DE
OÖ Nachrichten: „Die Inntöne begeisterten als Jazz-Reigen mit einem Klavierwunder“
Christoph Haunschmid
Review of the 31st INNtöne in Diersbach (13 to 15 May 2016): among the most exciting concerts was the homage to Harry Pepl, in which his pieces come from tape and the band comments live, with the singer Agnes Heginger outstanding alongside Clemens Salesny.
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The saxophonist Clemens Salesny, for instance, chose an innovative approach to pay tribute to Harry Pepl, who died in 2005.
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17 May 2016 · Review · DE
Passauer Neue Presse: „Da ist er wieder, dieser Zauber“
Dorothea Walchshäusl
Festival report from the INNtöne 2016: for the Passauer Neue Presse, the fusion “Harry Pepl & Clemens Salesny” with Martin Bayer, Peter Primus Frosch and Agnes Heginger is a much-discussed venture that goes all the way in experimental improvisations.
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In jagged, experimental improvisations they go all out and systematically leave familiar structures and sounds behind.
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19 May 2016 · Review · DE
Jazzpages (Online): „INNtöne 2016 – Rückschau mit Bildern“
Frank Schindelbeck
Festival report with photos from the INNtöne Jazzfestival 2016 on Paul Zauner's farm in Diersbach.
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As the highlight of the second festival day, the author describes the project of Agnes Heginger, Clemens Salesny, Martin Bayer and Peter Primus Frosch, in which recordings from Pepl's home studio were played in and the band entered into a dialogue with them. He refers to the double CD on Fullmax Recordings.
The four musicians on stage played so excellently with Pepl's legacy that, without knowing the story behind it and with your eyes closed, there could have been a quintet on stage.
An extremely successful tribute to one of Austria's important jazz musicians.
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10 June 2016 · Review · DE
Der Standard (RONDO): „Wolfgang Puschnig: Faces and Stories“
Review of the Puschnig compilation “Faces and Stories”: among other things it reissues the duos from “Pieces of the Dream” (1988), on which Harry Pepl can be heard alongside Carla Bley and Hans Koller.
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The great tenor saxophonist Hans Koller, a central figure of modern jazz in Europe, was also there at the time, and of course the guitarist Harry Pepl too.
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27 October 2017 · Review · DE
Passauer Neue Presse (p. 21, local news, Passau city): „G'schmackiger Fusion-Eintopf“ (Gerald Gradwohl Group im Café Museum)
Christine Pierach
Concert report on the Gerald Gradwohl Group in Passau, which pays homage to the late Viennese jazz guitarist Harry Pepl. Gradwohl says that Pepl was underrated and that Pepl taught and inspired him; Pepl is a marginal note in the report.
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15 November 2018 · Review · DE
Kleine Zeitung: „Auratisch: Zwei fünfte Männer“
Otmar Klammer
Concert review of Harry Pepl (tape) & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band at the Austrian Soundcheck festival at Tube's in Graz, Austria (Tuesday, 13 November 2018).
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Clemens Salesny calls the band a quintet because Markus Wallner steers the playback from the mixing desk and laptop; the real fifth man, however, is Pepl, who “in a few days will already have been sorely missed for 13 years”. Salesny, Andi Schreiber (violin), Martin Bayer (guitar) and Valentin Duit (drums) take up Pepl's style; the band is at its strongest in the pieces built on Pepl's grooving ostinato bass figures.
The real fifth man, who once composed this music in real time on countless instruments
Otherwise the rule was: the smaller the format, the more Pepl.
The real fifth man, who once composed this music in real time on countless instruments, will in a few days already have been sorely missed for 13 years.
A multifaceted excursion through the Pepl cosmos.
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6 April 2021 · Review · DE
Wiener Zeitung (p. 18, arts section): „Gegengift zum Corona-Blues“
Christoph Irrgeher
CD review of an album by the Schwarzenberg Trio with piano trios by Beethoven, Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Werner Pirchner.
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Irrgeher introduces Pirchner as the vibraphonist who shook up the jazz world with Harry Pepl, as far as the Montreux festival, and discusses his trio “Heimat?”. The online version appeared on wienerzeitung.at on 5 April 2021.
As a vibraphonist he shook up the jazz world together with the guitarist Harry Pepl (as far as the Montreux festival)
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20 November 2024 · Review · DE
NÖN Niederösterreichische Nachrichten (p. 16): „Flip Philipp ließ die Schlägel tanzen“
Short report on the Freiraum concert at the Seidl-Keller in Bruck an der Leitha on Thursday, 14 November 2024: Flip Philipp (vibraphone) played music by Werner Pirchner and Harry Pepl with Bertl Mayer (harmonica), Tobias Faulhammer (guitar), Pista Bartus (bass) and Klemens Marktl (drums).
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brought along the music of the Tyrolean vibraphonist Werner Pirchner and of the exceptional guitarist Harry Pepl
At times the audience listened in complete silence
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27 September 2025 · Review · DE
RONDO (Online): „Songs From The Treehouse“ (Tim Collins, Martin Gasselsberger)
Werner Stiefele
Review of the duo album by vibraphonist Tim Collins and pianist Martin Gasselsberger on GLM Music.
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Apart from Billie Eilish's “Everything I Wanted” and “Air, Love & Vitamins” from the repertoire of the Jazzzwio of Harry Pepl and Werner Pirchner, the duo plays its own pieces; the reviewer places the line-up in the tradition of Gary Burton and Chick Corea.
“Air, Love & Vitamins” from the repertoire of the Austrian JazzZwio of Harry Pepl and Werner Pirchner
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18 December 2025 · Review · DE
Kleine Zeitung (p. 51, culture, column „Open Music im Grazer Stockwerk“): „Im Spiel mit der Wiener Gitarristenlegende“
Robert Tendl
Report on the evening by Harry Pepl (tape) & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band at the Stockwerk in Graz.
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Pepl left behind a great deal of material from his home studio; Salesny, Bayer, Schreiber, Duit and the technician Markus Wallner bring the audio tracks onto the stage via amplifier and loudspeakers and improvise along with them.
A surprisingly lively, highly musical result emerges
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18 December 2025 · Review · DE
Kronen Zeitung (p. 42, culture): „Die Schemen eines Lebenden“ (Stockwerk Graz: Harry Pepl's Lonely Single Swinger Band blinzelt ins Jenseits)
F. Jureček
Concert review of the performance in Graz: a quintet around Clemens Salesny and the sound engineer Markus Wallner shapes an evening of improvisation from multitrack recordings by the guitarist, who died in 2005. Pepl’s audio tracks are heard as sounds dynamically processed at the mixing desk, with Andi Schreiber, Martin Bayer and Valentin Duit playing along.
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Archive material gives rise to the shadowy outlines of a living man.
Not many musicians release new CDs 20 years after their death.