Embryo's
Biography
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The name Embryo conjures up the birth of a new trend in
fusion. Originating in the exciting Munich scene from
the late sixties, Embryo was actually formed in 1969 by
percussionist Christian Burchard who had previously been
member of another seminal band Amon Duul II, and who was
currently working with pianist Mal Waldron, Reeminiscing
about the spirit of the moment, Burchard declared:"(Amon
Duul) had this three room apartment and were living with
15 people. They called me up and said:"Come on over!
We're donig something new!", you know, I went there,
and they said:"We've burnt all our jazz LP's - we
have nothing to do with jazz", and they played me
what was new (also for my ears at the time): Hendrix,
Cream, Hapshash". Alongside other underground musicians
(many of them with a similar jazzy background), Burchard
had the vision of a band with a very definite aim:"to
work collectively, intuitively,and let the muic evolve
of its own".
The initial core of the band was made up by Burchard (drums,
piano, percussion, vocals), Edgar Hoffman (sax, violin,
vocals), Ralph Fisher (bass, organ, voice), ex Ten Years
After member John Kelly, (gutar, vocals), and several
occasional collaborators. During their first period, stretching
from 1969 to 1972, while going through constant changes
of line-up, Embryo released three albums. The first of
them, "Opal", is still considered their masterpiece.
Featuring Lothar Meid on bass, "Opal" was released
on the legendary Ohr Musik label (flagship of the progressive
German rock of the moment), and featured an inventive,
freaky sound with an intriguing jazzy twist. The band's
follow-up was "Embryo's Rache" (1971), a surprising
album which set the unique Embryo sound, "often dynamic
and riffing, with ethnic touches and Edgar Hoffmann's
expressive sax, hypnotic and complex music". "Embryo's
Rache" featured the political "Espagna Si, Franco
No", a song that led to the cancellation of their
planned 1972 Spanish tour due to pressure from the Fascist
dictatorship then ruling Spain. Over the next eight months
Embryo recorded three albums, but two of them would not
appear until much later, as the band's current label,
United Artists chose to release only their more "commercial"
disk: "Father, Son and Holy Ghosts", a record
that showed a more condensed and accesible style.
A key development in Embryo's history happened when veteran
saxophone player Charlie Mariano was introduced to the
band. In Burchards own words: "Charlie paid us a
visit, stayed with us, and we had a jam. The musical communication
between us worked, so that as a logical consequence we
played concerts together... Of course it was a big surprise
for us, because we thought Charlie Mariano was a size
too big for us!". The addition of Mariano led to
the release of "We keep On" (1973) for the BASF
label, a very fine album that showed Embryo in an unusual
quartet format also featuring Burchard, roman Bunka, and
Deiter Miekautsch. "We Keep On" was the record
that broke Embryo around the world.
Their two following albums, "Surfin'" (1974)
and "Bad Heads & Bad Cats" (1975), were
fine recordings but a mite too commercial for Christian
Burchard. Annoyed at what he saw as their label's manipulating
schemes, in 1976 he embarked on an extensive trip to India
alongside the rest of the band. During several months,
the Embryo crew travelled through the northern regions
of this country, getting to know and experimenting with
different local musicians. One of them was Bombay singer
Shoba Gurtu, who collaborated in the recording of their
following project, the controversial "Apo Calypso"
(1977).
In 1978 Embryo embarked upon an ambitious touring performance
and recording trip to the Middle East via Afghanistan
and Pakistan to India. The trip lasted nearly two years
and was documented on hundreds of hours of tape. As a
result of this journey, the band released "Embryo's
Reise" (1979), a document on their experiences in
Asia, a pioneering effort in the addition of ethnic elements
into rock, and a sample of exciting live and studio recordings.
After releasing the weird, world music-inspired "Life!"
(1980), the band kept wandering through Asia, the Middle
East and Egypt. During 1980-1982, the Embryo tours featuring
Indian musicians enjoyed tremendous success. Particularly
renowned was the concert the band offered at the Opera
Theatre in Beirut alongside the Yoruba Dun Dun ensemble.
Amongst the Albums from this period, the double LP "La
Blama Sparozzi" (1982) particulrly manages to capture
th magical essence of their ethnic crossover.
After endless changes in their line-up, in 1984 Embryo
recorded their irst studio album in seven years: "Zack
Gluck", an almost instrumental LP in which the old
classic Embryo style is fused together with lots of new
elements. Now touring Africa, the band became deeply involved
with Nigeria's Yoruba Dun Dun Ensemble. As product of
their collaboration with the African orchestra, Embryo
released two intriguing albums: "Yoruba Dun Dun Orchestra"
(1985) and "Africa" (1985). Celebrating twenty
years of Embryo, "Turn Peace" (1989) offered
additional surprises, proving that Burchard and crew were
still willing to try new ideas while still recreating
the music they originally set out with a much more spacy
ethnic feel. Embryo is still going on strong, constantly
surprising with their innovations, proving to be only
the Krautrock band to have stuck to their ideals over
25 years whilst always moving on.
Jordi SoleyOctober 1998
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