Embryo (band)

Last updated
Embryo
Christian Burchard (Photo by Frank Schindelbeck).jpg
Christian Burchard, Finkenbach Festival 2011
Background information
OriginMunich, West Germany
Genres Progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, world music
Years active1969–present
Labels Brain, Schneeball, Materiali Sonori, Garden of Delight, Ohr, United Artists
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
  • Al Jones
  • Friedemann Josch
  • Remigius Drechsler
  • 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
Website embryo.de

Embryo is a world music band from Munich, West Germany (now Germany) that began in 1969. Its origins have even been traced to the 1950s in the city of Hof, when musicians Christian Burchard and Dieter Serfas met at the age of 10. The band was described by one critic as "the most eclectic of the krautrock bands." [1] [2]

Contents

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 on multiple occasions, such as Charlie Mariano, Trilok Gurtu, Ramesh Shotham, Marty Cook, Yuri Parfenov, Allan Praskin, X.Nie, Nick McCarthy, Monty Waters and Mal Waldron. Longtime members have been 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, having merged different styles and trends throughout their history. Many of their albums originated during collective journeys in four continents[ clarification needed ]. The band played many festivals around the globe: in India (Mumbai Jazz 1979), England (Reading 1973), Nigeria (Port Harcourt Jazz 1987), and 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 simply Dissidenten. [4]

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

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

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Can (band)</span> German experimental rock band

Can were a German experimental rock band formed in Cologne in 1968 by Holger Czukay, Irmin Schmidt (keyboards), Michael Karoli (guitar), and Jaki Liebezeit (drums). They featured several vocalists, including the American Malcolm Mooney (1968–70) and the Japanese Damo Suzuki (1970–73). They have been hailed as pioneers of the German krautrock scene.

Schneeball was a German record label founded in 1976.

Triumvirat was a West German progressive rock band from Cologne in then-West Germany. They became, during the 1970s, a key figure in Eurock, the progressive rock of continental Europe whose German variant is called krautrock. The name Triumvirat comes from the Latin word triumvirate, which refers to a group of three powerful individuals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Scott</span> British jazz saxophonist (1927–1996)

Ronnie Scott OBE was a British jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner. He co-founded Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London's Soho district, one of the world's most popular jazz clubs, in 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amon Düül II</span> Musical artist

Amon Düül II are a German rock band formed in 1968. The group is generally considered to be one of the pioneers of the West German krautrock scene. Their 1970 album Yeti was described by British magazine The Wire as "one of the cornerstones of ... the entire Krautrock movement".

<i>Phallus Dei</i> 1969 studio album by Amon Düül II

Phallus Dei is the debut album by German band Amon Düül II. The album was the result of the Amon Düül commune in Munich splitting. The album features layered guitars, abstract percussion, and chant-like vocals. It is often cited as the original Krautrock album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agitation Free</span> German krautrock band

Agitation Free is a German experimental krautrock band formed in 1967 by Michael "Fame" Günther, Lutz "Lüül" Ulbrich (guitar), Lutz Ludwig Kramer (guitar) and Christopher Franke (drums).

<i>Saw Delight</i> 1977 studio album by Can

Saw Delight is an album by the German rock band Can. It features two new band members who were ex-members of the band Traffic, Rosko Gee and Rebop Kwaku Baah, with Can's bassist Holger Czukay giving up the bass in favour of experimental effects.

<i>Faust IV</i> 1973 studio album by Faust

Faust IV is the fourth studio album by the German krautrock group Faust, released in 1973. The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, where it is referred to as a "krautrock classic". This was the last album by the first incarnation of the band, they returned in 1994 with the release of Rien featuring a different line-up.

Dissidenten are a German rock band known for their collaborations with Middle Eastern, African and Indian musicians. In a 1988 article for The New York Times, music critic Stephen Holden acknowledged the band as being among the leaders of what he termed "the 'world beat' movement ... in which ethnic styles are contemporized with electronic dance rhythms".

Xhol Caravan, known first as Soul Caravan and later as Xhol, was one of the first bands to participate in the so-called Krautrock movement in Germany in the late 1960s. Their music draws from varied influences and fuses rhythm and blues and free jazz with a psychedelic rock sensibility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marlon Klein</span> Musical artist

Marlon Klein is a musician and producer in the World Music and Fusion genres. He is a co-founder of the German group Dissidenten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lift (band)</span> Musical artist

Lift are a German rock band formed in Dresden in 1973 and remains active at the present day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramesh Shotham</span> Musical artist

Ramesh Shotham is a percussionist and drummer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Bunka</span> German instrumentalist and composer (1951–2022)

Roman Bunka was a German guitarist, oud player and composer, active in world music and jazz fusion bands. He lived most of his life in Munich, Bavaria, where he was involved in various musical crossover projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Karrer</span> German guitarist and composer (1947–2024)

Christoph Karrer was a German guitarist and composer who also played saxophone, violin and oud.

Gila was a psychedelic rock band from Stuttgart, Germany.

<i>Romantic Warriors II: Special Features DVD</i> 2013 documentary film

Got RIO? Romantic Warriors II: Special Features DVD is a 2013 documentary film and an addendum to the 2012 feature-length documentary Romantic Warriors II: A Progressive Music Saga About Rock in Opposition. The film was written and directed by Adele Schmidt and José Zegarra Holder, and was released in the United States by Zeitgeist Media. It was generally well received by critics, with a reviewer at AllMusic saying that it "is a showcase for tremendous musicianship and a must-have for existing [Rock in Opposition] fans".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harald Grosskopf</span> German musician (born 1949)

Harald Grosskopf is a German electronic musician. He played with several Krautrock and progressive rock bands of the 1970s in Germany, and released solo music.

Tritonus was a German progressive rock band active between 1972 and 1979. The band was initiated by Peter K. Seiler, a German art-student, based on Emerson, Lake and Palmer, complete with heavy keyboards and English vocals.

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 at IMDb
  4. Thomas Hoenisch. "Charlie Mariano Tribute | Bands & Leaders". Charliemarianotribute.de. Retrieved 2020-03-09.