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Harry Pepl * 1945  † 2005
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Black-and-white photo among gongs, barrels and drums: on the left Harry Pepl with his guitar, in the middle Werner Pirchner at the vibraphone, on the right Steve Swallow on bass guitar, in front percussionists of the Family of Percussion. Probably at the NDR jazz workshop with the Family of Percussion on 21 June 1984 in Hamburg, Germany; names according to the family.
With Werner Pirchner, Steve Swallow and the Family of Percussion, 1984Photo: musical estate, private collection

Band · 1984

Family of Percussion

NDR Jazz Workshop 1984 with Steve Swallow and Werner Pirchner

Percussion ensemble founded by the Swiss drummer Peter Giger. At the NDR Jazz Workshop (NDR: Norddeutscher Rundfunk, public broadcaster for northern Germany) in 1984, Steve Swallow, Harry Pepl and Werner Pirchner, the Austrian composer and vibraphonist, played with the group as guests.

Harry Pepl Guest, guitar

Recordings are held in the NDR archive; alongside numbers by the Family of Percussion, they played Pepl's “Das Auge des Maulwurfs” and Pirchner's “Wirf an!”. According to a discography of the NDR jazz workshops, the recording (workshop no. 191, producer Michael Naura) was made on 21 June 1984 in Studio 10 of the NDR broadcasting house in Hamburg, Germany; it lists Peter Giger, Trilok Gurtu, Burhan Öcal, Michael Küttner and Tom Nicholas as the line-up. Kohler names Doug Hammond, Tom Nicholas and Trilok Gurtu as the group's legendary line-up. A photo from the estate shows Pepl, Pirchner and Swallow among gongs, barrels and drums.

In the chronology