Sunya Beat

Sunya Beat (1998). Axel Manrico Heilhecker meets Harald Grosskopf, who is searchin for a producer, to set up a Solo-drum recording with him. Axel just finished recordings with Samson Gassama, a Djembe player from Gambia, and encourages Harald in developing such a recording based on acoustic ethno drums. During the production Harald asks Axel to put some of his Guitar playing to his drums, and even two already existing tracks of Axel, "Sky Unlimited" and "Travolta Drive", actually planned for his "Fishmoon" - album are added and overdubbed with Harald's percussion.
In 1998 Axel Manrico Heilhecker and Harald Grosskopf released their first common album as "Sunya Beat". It was produced by Axel in order to feature Haralds ability, to create great dynamic sequences on ancient acoustic instruments and selfmade trash-drums…

This is a recording of the live concert held at Burg Herzberg Krautrock/Hippie festival from 7/15/99. A kind of Woodstock in Germany with a lot of bands. Sounding from psychedelic rock to Berlin school electronic. Release features one track each from seven different artists that played at the festival. A couple of really good cuts here include Ashra's (aka Ash Ra Temple) eighteen-minute "Twelve Samples" and the Hypnotix eleven-minute piece "Roots". Top of the line what many might refer to as new age/world music. The Dissidenten tune "Instinctive Traveler" hit sort of like a Gong wanna be. Tunes here from Sunya Beat, Edgar Broughton, Caravan and Might As Well are so-so.

Adept and international specialist of bansoori (a bamboo flute among the Indians of North), Andreas Ludwig attempts to produce an ethnic music slightly tinged with electronic music and progressives. Our man in particular is helped by drummer Harald Grosskopf and guitarist-keyboardist Axel Manrico Heilhecker, the duo is Sunya Beat in full force! Recorded between 1993 and 1998, parts of "Callings Of The Night" looks like an imaginary film, which leads the listener to the depths of the mysteries of the orient. Very relaxed and a kind of New Age.

Axel Manrico Heilhecker is the essential component of Sunya Beat. The German multi-instrumentalist is accompanied by the Gambian Samson Gassama. The latter is a world famous specialist in African drums and percussions from Boogaraboo. Recorded in 1999, "Wandyah" reveals ethnic influences from one, and flamenco inclinations from the other. Music of album is soft African influenced new age.

Harald Grosskopf is a legendary drummer who was among the first (if not the first) to play drum together with sequencers. He was a regular guest on albums by Klaus Schulze in the second half of the seventies. After he’d joined Ashra, the band headed more into a rock direction, never forgetting their electronic roots. Steve Baltes became a member of Ashra in the nineties. His electronics gave the pioneers a modern approach. Axel Manrico Heilhecker is considered on of Germany’s leading guitarists. They already work together as Sunya Beat (Harald and Axel) and N-Tribe (Harald and Steve).
"Four Times Three" (4x3) is released under their own names. The four tracks on "Four Times Three" all have traces of the great classic Ashra albums…