Mathias Kunzli - Boundless Reasons To Admire The Moon (2026)

Swiss-American drummer and percussionist Mathias Kunzli, who moved to the U.S. at 19 to study at Berklee College of Music, is releasing his third solo album, "Boundless Reasons To Admire The Moon," on Adhyâropa Records. The 17-track record is a work of fully free improvisation, recorded essentially over two short sessions across two days, centered sonically and emotionally around a frame drum that Kunzli has played for 30 years, since studying with Jamey Haddad.

Kunzli is one of today's most in-demand session and touring musicians: he has been Regina Spektor's touring drummer since 2012, and his credits include work with Lauryn Hill, Moby, Yo-Yo Ma, John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Rhiannon Giddens, Kayhan Kalhor, the ensemble Brooklyn Rider, the group Pharaoh's Daughter, and filmmaker Ken Burns, among many others. He has performed on major stages worldwide, appeared on dozens of film and TV soundtracks, and is endorsed by brands including Sabian, Remo, Meinl, and Cooperman Frame Drums.

In his own words, Kunzli describes music-making as an intuitive, almost uncontrollable process — a way to move his body without the injuries sports gave him growing up — and speaks of a lasting sense of being a "musical tourist," whatever tradition he's playing in, from Persian and Balkan music to jazz and Western classical. He values the raw, "undigested" first contact with unfamiliar material and points to a growing cultural hunger for authentic, "raw" human expression in an age of artificiality and algorithms. Collaborators — including Regina Spektor, Johnny Gandelsman, Frank London, Kayhan Kalhor, Colin Jacobsen, and Magos Herrera — consistently praise his exceptionally attentive ear, deep groove, inventiveness, and generosity as a collaborator.

Tracklist:
1-1 Mathias Kunzli - Cycles [3:27]
1-2 Mathias Kunzli - Illuminator [2:03]
1-3 Mathias Kunzli - Twenty-three and a half [3:08]
1-4 Mathias Kunzli - Driving the tides [0:58]
1-5 Mathias Kunzli - Some must howl [2:41]
1-6 Mathias Kunzli - Reunion [1:06]
1-7 Mathias Kunzli - Mass spawning [2:56]
1-8 Mathias Kunzli - Axial tilt [1:03]
1-9 Mathias Kunzli - Spring and neap [2:43]
1-10 Mathias Kunzli - Navigator [2:02]
1-11 Mathias Kunzli;Spotlight Floodlight - One for all [7:25]
1-12 Mathias Kunzli - Time keeper [2:36]
1-13 Mathias Kunzli - Moonquakes [0:49]
1-14 Mathias Kunzli - Nutrients and oxygen [3:07]
1-15 Mathias Kunzli - Tidal bore [1:18]
1-16 Mathias Kunzli - Stabilizer [2:00]
1-17 Mathias Kunzli - Twenty-nine and a half [7:39]