Peter Conradin Zumthor

Kappeler / Zumthor: Herd

by John Sharpe
February 8, 2022

Swiss duo pianist Vera Kappeler and percussionist Peter Conradin Zumthor deliver a haunting program of eleven simple but effective mood pieces. They share a spare aesthetic which marries elements of minimalism, folk, jazz and circus music into an idiosyncratic, but by no means inaccessible, whole. While their previous outing together, Babylon-Suite (ECM, 2014), was inspired by the biblical Book of Daniel, the genesis of Herd is more mysterious still. The sleeve and liner notes hint at a narrative, but one ...