Heaven & Earth - Label & Publishing

Started in 1997 'Heaven and Earth - Label & Publishing'  reflects the philosophy and the sounds of artists represented by alba KULTUR. Each generation, every culture has its specific tastes and preferences. Only one factor „quality“ has prevailed, everywhere and always. 'Heaven and Earth' places emphasis on timeless quality - not only in music and production, but in its promotion and handling services as well.

Publishing We have roughly 1000 music titles sourced from Heaven and Earth Records. All titles are available for licensing for use in films, television, adverts etc. -  anywhere music is used. We control 100% of the rights to most of the works in our catalogue. Of course we know our catalogue deeply. Maybe you can't find a specific track, need more like the one you found, or you simply don't have time to search. Then we propose to you a selection of tracks. You are welcome to send a request for a specific type of music to us and we will be happy to scour the catalogue for just the right music for your project. We also work with a number of artists who create music specifically for new productions. If you are after tailor-made music, please contact us with details of your project and we will be happy to discuss your specific needs.

Label The synergy between alba Kultur and Heaven and Earth Records guarantees our artistic independence, since it takes time for the artists we like to get the recognition they deserve. We consciously limiting the yearly selection of products. We release music we identify with, not music we think might be trendy. The focus of Heaven and Earth Records is contemporary music with folk roots. All albums are produced entirely by ourself - in studios in the countries of origin of the artists or in Germany. We are proud on having released - among other oriental and european albums - over the years the catalogue of the outstanding mongolian band Egschiglen and of the german based ghanaen band Adesa.  

Aus der gemeinsamen Begeisterung für die Musik Hildegard von Bingens entwickelte Santierce die Idee zu PRIMA MATERIA. Lieder von Hildegard von Bingen wurden von Maria Jonas transkribiert, arrangiert, teilweise neu zusammengefügt und von Ars Choralis Coeln interpretiert. Das Nouruz Ensemble spielt neue, auf arabischen Maqams basierende Kompositionen von Bassem Hawar. Der in Deutschland lebende palästinensische Dichter Khaled Shomali hat neue arabische Gedichte beigesteuert, die auf den neuen Kompositionen von Bassem Hawar gesungen werden. Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) ist eine der bedeutendsten Frauen des deutschen Mittelalters und heute weit über die Grenzen ihrer rheinischen Heimat hinaus bekannt. Es gelang ihr, ihre Zeitgenossen gleichermaßen in ihren Bann zu ziehen, wie die Menschen, die heute nach Sinn, Orientierung, Ganzheit und Heil suchen. In mehreren Liedern und Texten benutzt sie den Ausdruck „Prima Materia“, was mit Ur-Schoß übersetzt wird, aus dem Gott die Schöpfung vollbringt. Darum stand Maria als verkörperlichte „Prima Materia“ im Mittelpunkt der Verehrung und des Denkens von Hildegard.
Maria spielt auch im Q’ran eine herausragende Rolle: sie ist die einzige Frau, die im Q’ran mit Namen genannt wird. Nach Mose, Abraham und Noah ist Maria die am häufigsten erwähnte Person, d.h. sie wird häufiger genannt als Muhammed und Jesus. Und die koranischen Schilderungen ihrer Figur sind durchgehend voller Anerkennung und Bewunderung. So trägt die ganze Sure 19 den Namen Maryam. Besonders über Maria öffnet sich in diesen Versen ein Raum, um sich Gott aus einer weiblichen Persepektive anzunähern. So sind sie arabischen Wurzeln des Wortes. الرحم die gleichen wie für das Wort Schoß: al rahem الرحمن Barmherzigkeit: al rahmam.

La Beltatz – okzitanisch für Schönheit – wurde von den Trobadors und Minnesängern des Hochmittelalters besungen. Beltatz stand für die Schönheit des höfischen Lebens und der ritterlichen Umgangsformen, der Musik, der Dichtkunst und der Wissenschaft. Diese Blüte der europäischen Kultur entwickelte sich erst Dank des regen Austauschs mit dem fortschrittlicheren Orient: durch Kontakte auf den Handelswegen und Kreuzzügen, durch importiertes Wissen - nicht zuletzt von fahrenden Musikern. Das Ensemble Beltatz bewegt sich auf den Spuren dieser kulturellen Gemeinsamkeiten: das Album Taoabel stellt musikalische Spezereien aus Orient und Okzident in den Mittelpunkt - klassische arabische Musik als noch heute im Nahen Osten und der Türkei lebendige Tradition und mittelalterliche Instrumentalmusik, Pilger- und Kreuzfahrerlieder. Arabische Streichinstrumente und arabisch beeinflusste Zupf- und Flöteninstrumente sind die Säulen.   

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The Nouruz Ensemble, founded by Bassem Hawar in 2018, consists of five virtuosos who studied in their hometowns Baghdad, Aleppo and Tehran the old oriental instruments Djoze, Santur, Nay, Duduk, Qanun and various drums. They now live and work in Germany. They do not only play oriental music on their ancient instruments, but experienced a lot collaborations in Germany and played with groups of different musical styles. The ensemble creates contemporary oriental art music beyond maqam, which has remained almost unchanged for centuries, and Egyptian-influenced pop music. They share the view that this is only possible in European exile and only in contact with other music cultures. Only here the old instruments can be saved from extinction, contemporary compositions based on the classical Arab tradition can emerge. This reflect a changed view of one's own culture. The musicians do not fear, but welcome influences from other musical cultures. Nouruz - the original Kurdish word for spring is used throughout the Arab world. The name of the ensemble stands for the first delicate instincts of such new oriental music. The Nouruz Ensemble is essentially an instrumental ensemble that works on a project-by-project basis with various singers from the Arab and European cultural circles. The following guests can be heard on the CD 'Goldener Flügel': Maria Jonas, Rita William, Ibrahim Keivo and Dominik Schneider.

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Ahoar is the name adopted by two Iraqi classical-traditional concert musicians, a Belgian jazz pianist and a jazz double bassist from Germany. By combining two very different styles of music and venturing into new musical  territory in this project, the four musicians perform a daring, unique experiment. And yet the music of Ahoar always has the effect of an insoluble overall structure and never joined together. It would be impossible to hear the components of the originating styles apart. It would be difficult to find a group in which everyone involved – although unmissably extraordinary virtuosos – withdraws so radically for a mutual overall sound. No synthesis of traditions has taken place here, instead it is a kind of musical core meltdown.Rarely is the combination of unisonant, filigree maqam melody and Western harmony as successful as it is here. When listening, we become repeatedly unsure whether harmonies are still sounding at all or rather a long, softly streaming bourdon sound. Unfolding equally little is the Iraqi maqam, this long cycle with its predefined songs, rhythm and modulations. The two Iraqi musicians of Ahoar break through the strict forms again and again and shorten its developments. Only molecules, so it seems, have released the quartet from their different musical traditions and merged them together.

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In 10 new songs for children narrating fables and tales of the griots from Ghana, the ensemble Adesa tries to answer questions, such as 'Why do crocodiles not eat chicken?' or 'Why is the Jabahee bird always flying to Africa during winter?'
Played on traditional instruments such as calabashes, the luth korlegonor, balafon, violin Gonje, guitar, bass, drums and African percussions, this album takes the children into the mystical and exciting world of the wise griots of West Africa!

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Arto Tunçboyaciyan, percussionist, multi-instrumentalist and outstanding vocalist, was born in Turkey in 1957 of the Armenian descent of the Anatolian roots. In 1981 Arto moved to United States to explore new creative influences, to add a new dimension to his own vision of life, to escape from the subtile restrictions of identity he had to face as part of the armenian minority in Turkey. Since then, he performed as required sideman and gave solo concerts of his own music throughout the world. Since 2003 he spends more and more time in Armenia, where he recorded his new solo-project “Artostan” in a studio in the capital Yerevan – a selection of songs from his solo performances - a radiophonic travel diary through Arto’s unlimited soundscapes and his  philosophical homeland.

The songs of this album are 'diaries' from journeys Kristi Stassinopoulou & Stathis Kalyviotis made together with their band these last years, invited by music festivals and clubs in various random places in the world. They were written in vans and airplanes, in airport lounges, in dressing rooms, hotel rooms and bamboo huts. They were recorded and mixed in Athens, from October 2005 to May 2006. The last three songs are written for Thaleia Iakovidou; Kristi Stassinopoulou & Stathis Kalyviotis traveled together to most of the places. The whole album is dedicated to her memory.

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Gereg, the silver ID plate from the times of Genghis Khan gave the title to this CD. If the Gereg was the passport of the nomads, their ID, this album is a musical identification of Mongolia, a poetic passport of Egschiglen. Their Gereg contains everything from the past like new writing on a palimpsest so that the past becomes contemporary and the regional becomes universal. The CD has been selected by songlines magazines as one of the 'Top of the world' albums for the April/May edition 2008.

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African football songs
Original compositions by Adesa played with traditional instruments and remix versions for dance floors

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Arto Tunçboyaciyan, percussionist, multi-instrumentalist and outstanding vocalist, was born in Turkey of the Armenian descent of the Anatolian roots. At the age of 11, he began his career playing and recording traditional music with his brother, thus establishing himself as a professional musician throughout Turkey, Europe and the US. Arto Tuncboyaciyan recorded this duo-project in 2003 with the pianist of the Armenian Navy Band, Vahagn Hayrapetyan. This album is a very personal declaration of love - dedicated to his mother.

In 1998 in the Armenian capital Yerevan, in the country of his ancestors, Arto Tunçboyaciyan invited eleven young, open-minded and enthusiastic musicians to join in a session for the first time. With these musicians – who played traditional folk instruments such as duduk, blul, zurna, kemanche and kanun, but also contemporary western instruments such as trombone, alto, tenor and soprano saxophone, trumpet, bass, drums, keyboards and piano – his “sound worlds” finally became audible in the form he had wanted for a long time and which fit his identity.  The album presents an almost 50-minute-long composition in eleven parts, which is dedicated to nature. “Natural Seeds” takes the listener along part of the path of life that Arto Tunçboyaciyan and his musicians have traveled.

Storytelling African songs and drum school for children.
On this CD Adesa introduces the Griot tradition of the Ga community in the South of Ghana to European children (in German language), the spiritual background and the meaning of drumming through stories and myths. In the 2nd part of the CD the children listen to Ghanaen songs for kids and learn different rhythms of drumming.

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Sam Tshabalala is rated as one of the outstanding composers of South African music. His career began in 1978, with the »Malopoets«, a band that caused quite a stir in South Africa at that time. In 1993 Sam Tshabalala gathered around him excellent Paris-based, African musicians to found Sabeka and record this album. Sam Tshabalala’s lyrics are about contemporary South Africa – the life in the townships and the aspirations of the people who live there. Various rhythms, languages (i.e. Zulu, Sotho and English) and traditions are mixed together in his music with jazz, reggae and funk.

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Magnificant lucidity – 'Zazal' is the fruit of years of research and travel between the conservatory of Ulaan Baatar, capital of Mongolia, and Rötenbach a. d. Pegnitz, a small village in Bavaria, Germany. This CD is a walk through the labyrinth of vocal acrobatics: the diphonic khöömii – the epic singing khailakh, or the melodic duulakh. Egschiglen's compositions and arrangements reflect a fluent transformation of their native songs into magnificant contemporary music. '...folk music at it’s best' (Jazzzeit/AUS)

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On 'Akoma' we listen to the consistent results of the group's spiritual journey through music and art. They take us through a great variety of musical atmospheres - from the rough sounds melting between the buildings and streets of the big cities, to the Atlantic coast and the animals of the wild steppe.
'...A round thing that carries fruits: Adesa, Akoma.' (JazzThetik /D)

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The album is an exciting encounter with an artist of great vocal versatility and individuality, who has decided with all her power on the modern classics of the Sicilian song tradition, and on setting out in  search of unheard-of spheres of sound! Her compositions belong stylistically to the female lamenti, whose origins lie in the Greek tradition of the island: sweet, slowly flowing melodies, fervent prayers, wailing laments, and screams bordering on madness. But not only Christian and pagan-Mediterranean elements merge in them: The proximity of Arabic cultures is clearly evident, especially in the songs of prisoners and carters. In Resuttano, Corleone and Monreale never-ending, melismatic  lines of melody are found, winding like creeping plants with themes that repeat and intensify themselves. With great clarity Simona Barbera’s strong, expressive voice winds its way toward her goal: eternal, ecstatic pain. The album Mirto is a homage to Simona Barbera’s imaginary Sicily!

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Baul musicians are gypsies from India who walk from village to village, singing with an open voice of madness and playing khamak, khangira and ektara with an overflowing joy of being alive – rythmically pulsing, trancelike and drifting. All the richness of the universe seems to be stretched between the dark, gurgling sounding tabla-strokes and the delightful sound of the flute. The songs on this album are deeply drawn from Baul Bishwa’s roots: self-knowledge – a favorite Baul-Sufi theme. One can feel the power of the storytelling-tradition of the last 600 years. The recording is a unic testinonial of the familiy tradition of Purna Das Baul, his wife Manju Das and his son Bapi Das Baul.

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Extraordinary selection of mystical pieces and a full length 'Sema' liturgy composed by Sultan Selim 3rd (13th century), performed live by a 16 musician-orchestra under the direction of Al Sheik Nail Kesova.
'...The recording, the music and the spirituality perceptible on this album are of great quality. This CD should have its place in every assorted discography.' (Trad Magzine/F)

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The wide repertory of this CD reflects the great diversity of the West African culture, one of the oldest in the world. The traditional and modern music of Adesa and the way they use their instruments confronts and connects the people, Africa and Europe, history and present time. But the view is always directed to the African roots.
'The rhythm is the shock which generates the good vibration; it`s the spiritual power that touches us deeply at our roots as human beings.' (Adesa)

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It's time for a walk through the labyrinth of vocal acrobatics: the diaphonic - the epic singing, or the melodic. 'Gobi' contains a selection of both, traditional songs and pieces of contemporary Mongolian composers. With their fine-tuned arrangements, Egschiglen’s pieces often have chamber-music quality and transparency - without loosing the orginal enchanting power of a strong tradition.
'A CD that deserves a deeper listening.' (Tad Magazine/F)

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This album presents a choice of re-arranged traditional Ghanaen rhythms and own compositions of Adesa’s rich live repertoire performed during their extensive tours in Europe and beyond.
'This band can easily hold its own among internationally recognized acts, and proves that excellent Afropop doesn`t just come from France anymore, but is becoming more and more outstanding in Germany as well.' (Hanfblatt/D)

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One the one hand Mongolian sounds seem strange and mysterious to Western ears. On the other hand the music sounds familiar, expressing basic human feelings such as love longing, sorrow and thankfulness.
This album is a collection of pure traditional musics from Mongolia presented in fine-tuned arrangements. With their virtuosity Egschiglen musically transmit the harmony of their culture and show an impressive variety and delicacy of expression.

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Die CDs (ausser die Titel HE1-HE6) sind mit umfangreichem Booklet versehen. Preis: 15 Euro + 2,50 Euro Versandpauschale (innerhalb Deutschland), bzw. 4 Euro (innerhalb Europa). Wir liefern gegen Rechnung und Vorkasse. Bestellungen bitte richten an: label@albakultur.de
Bitte nicht vergessen die Adresse anzugeben!

The CDs (except the titles HE1-HE6) are with comprehensive booklet. Price: 15 Euro + 2,50 Euro shipping fee (within Germany), and 4 Euro (within Europe). We deliver against invoice and payment in advance. Orders to: label@albakultur.de
Please don't forget your postal address!