Embryo (band)

Embryo is a band from Munich which began in 1969, although its origin can be traced to the 1950s in Hof when Christian Burchard and Dieter Serfas met the age of 10. The band was described by one critic as "the most eclectic of the krautrock bands."[1][2]

Embryo
Christian Burchard, Finkenbach Festival 2011
Background information
OriginMunich, Germany
GenresProgressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, world music
Years active1969–present
LabelsBrain, Schneeball, Materiali Sonori, Garden of Delight, Ohr, United Artists
Associated actsAmon Düül 2, Can, Guru Guru, Madlib, Dissidenten, Franz Ferdinand
Websiteembryo.de
Members
  • Marja Burchard
  • Valentin Altenberger
  • Jens Polheide
  • Dieter Serfas
  • Mik Quantius
Past members
  • Chris Karrer
  • Roman Bunka
  • Sigi Schwab
  • Maria Archer
  • Ulrich Bassenge
  • Hermann Breuer
  • Christian Burchard
  • Roberto Détrée
  • Jörg Evers
  • Hansi Fischer
  • Ralph Fischer
  • Yulyus Golombeck
  • Geoff Goodman
  • Klaus Götzner
  • Chuck Henderson
  • Karsten Hochapfel
  • Edgar Hofmann
  • Jimmy Jackson
  • Friedemann Josch
  • Dave King
  • Chris Lachotta
  • Gerald Hartwig Luciano
  • Lothar Meid
  • Dieter Miekautsch
  • Uve Müllrich
  • Masaru Nishimoto
  • Freddy Setz
  • Ramesh Shotam
  • Lothar Stahl
  • Michael Wehmeyer
  • Max Weissenfeldt

History

In 1969 the band was founded by multi instrumentalist Christian Burchard (drums, vibraphone, santur, keyboard) and Edgar Hofmann (saxophone, flutes). To date more than 400 musicians have played with the collective, some, such as Charlie Mariano, Trilok Gurtu, Ramesh Shotham, Marty Cook, Yuri Parfenov, Allan Praskin, X.Nie, Nick McCarthy, Monty Waters and Mal Waldron, have played on multiple occasions. Longtime members are Edgar Hofmann (sax, violin), Dieter Serfas (drums), Roman Bunka (guitar, oud), Uve Müllrich (bass), Michael Wehmeyer (keyboard), Chris Karrer (guitar, oud, violin, sax), Lothar Stahl (marimba, drums), and Jens Polheide (bass, flute).

With Ton Steine Scherben, they were founders of the first German independent label Schneeball in 1976.

In 1979 the band started a nine-month tour to India by bus which is documented in the movie "Vagabunden Karawane".[3] Embryo developed from jazzy Krautrock to a world music band which is able to merge different styles and trends. Many of their albums originated during collective journeys on 4 continents. The band played many festivals around the globe: in India (Mumbai Jazz 1979), England (Reading 1973), Nigeria (Port Harcourt Jazz 1987), Japan (Wakayama 1991) to name a few. In July 2008, Embryo was awarded the German World Music Award RUTH 2008 at the TFF Rudolstadt Festival.

In 1981, Müllrich and Wehmeyer left Embryo to form "Embryo's Dissidenten" who soon became Dissidenten.[4]

On the road to Marokko in March 2016 Christian Burchard had a stroke. Since then Marja Burchard (drums, vibraphone, vocals, trombone, keyboard), daughter of Christian Burchard, who grew up with the band, is leading Embryo.

On January 17, 2018 Christian Burchard died in Munich. He was 71 years old.

Discography
  • Opal (Ohr, 1970)
  • Embryo's Rache (United Artists, 1971)
  • Father Son and Holy Ghosts (United Artists, 1972)
  • Steig Aus (Brain/Metronome, 1973)
  • We Keep On (BASF, 1973)
  • Rocksession (Brain/Metronome, 1973)
  • Surfin' (Buk, 1975)
  • Bad Heads and Bad Cats (April, 1976)
  • Live (April, 1977)
  • Apo Calypso (April, 1977)
  • Embryo's Reise (Schneeball, 1979)
  • Anthology (Materiali Sonori, 1980)
  • Life (Schneeball, 1981)
  • La Blama Sparozzi Zwischenzonen (Schneeball, 1982)
  • Zack Gluck (Materiali Sonori, 1984)
  • Embryo & Yoruba Dun Dun Orchester feat. Muraina Oyelami (Schneeball, 1985)
  • Africa (Materiali Sonori, 1987)
  • Jazzbuhne Berlin '89 (Amiga, 1989)
  • Turn Peace (Schneeball, 1989)
  • Ibn Battuta (Schneeball/Indigo, 1994)
  • Ni Hau (Schneeball/Indigo, 1996)
  • Tour 98: Istanbul-Casablanca (Schneeball/Indigo, 1999)
  • Invisible Documents (Disconforme, 1999)
  • For Eva (Disconforme, 2000)
  • 2000 Live Vol. 1 (Schneeball/Indigo, 2000)
  • 2001 Live Vol. 1 (Schneeball/Indigo, 2002)
  • 29.6.73 in Hamburg (Schneeball, 2003)
  • Bremen 1971 (Garden of Delights, 2003)
  • Hallo Mik (Schneeball/Indigo, 2004)
  • Embryonnck (Staubgold/Schneeball, 2006)
  • News (Ultimate, 2006)
  • Live in Wendland (Schneeball, 2007)
  • Freedom in Music (Schneeball/Indigo, 2008)
  • Wiesbaden 1972 (Garden of Delights, 2008)
  • Live at Burg Herzberg Festival 2007 (Trip in Time, 2008)
  • Sloow Tapes (Choiak, 2010)
  • Message from Era Ora (Black Sweat, 2013)
  • Una Gira Per Catalunya (Cosmic Egg, 2014)
  • Eternal Forces (Cosmic Egg, 2014)
  • It Do (Trikont, 2016)
  • Umsonst Und Draussen Vlotho 1977 (Garden of Delights, 2017 )

References
  1. Asbjornsen, Dag Erik (1996). Cosmic Dreams At Play: Guide to German Progressive and Electronic Rock. Borderline Productions. ISBN 978-1-899855-01-8.
  2. Lavezzoli, Peter (2006). Bhairavi: The Dawn of Indian Music in the West. New York: Continuum International. p. 314. ISBN 978-0-8264-1815-9.
  3. Vagabunden Karawane on IMDb
  4. Thomas Hoenisch. "Charlie Mariano Tribute | Bands & Leaders". Charliemarianotribute.de. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
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