In A Mellow Tone
Wednesday May 18th, 2022 with Heavy Ben
Embryo: 50 years of jazz and explorations from Christian to Marja Burchard

Pictured: Christian Burchard and Marja Burchard (photo from "Embryo - A Journey Of Music and Peace", a 2018 film directed by Michael Wehmeyer) The history of German band Embryo is such that a 2-hour overview could be presented in at least a half dozen contexts. Founder Christian Burchard (vibraphone, drums, keyboards, vocals, lots more!) played on the Amon Düül II psychedelic epic "Phallus Dei", with Krautrock legends Guru Guru, with jazz stalwarts Mal Waldron and Charlie Mariano, with Afrobeat founder Fela Kuti, and travelled around the globe to India, Nigeria, Japan, England, Turley, China, Iran, Afghanistan, Slovenia... acquiring influences and instruments, collaborating with countless musicians, and touring for 50 years. Marja Burchard (keyboards, marimba, vibraphone, trombone, vocals) has been the leader of Embryo since 2016. Marja grew up in Embryo and has been performing with the band since a young age. Continuing with similar instruments as her father, Marja has also collaborated extensively - namely with drummer Max Weissenfeldt and guitar player Jan Weissenfeldt (Karl Hector and the Malcouns, Rodinia, formerly The Poets of Rhythm), sax player Pierrick Pédron, psych band Karaba, funky jazz Express Brass Band, and Arabic/Moroccan inspired Jisr. Christian suffered a stroke in 2016 and died in 2018 at the age of 71. His birthday is May 17 (1946), and he would have celebrated his birthday yesterday. Marja, now 37, has led Embryo into a new era. They have been prolific amid the pandemic, releasing three live albums and the excellent studio recording "Auf Auf" on Madlib Invazion in 2021. Embryo are cited as Madlib's favourite "rock band". Genre limitations notwithstanding, Embryo remains a vital creative force after 50+ years!