Auf Auf

The eclectic, well-traveled German band Embryo first encountered fervent fan Madlib when the visionary hip-hop producer visited the group and jammed with several of its long-standing members in a Bavarian wine cellar. Founder Christian Burchard suffered a stroke in 2016 and passed away in 2018, and his daughter Marja has been leading the band since the release of 2016s It Do, Christians final album with Embryo. Marja started work on the groups next album following Christians death, with collaborators including Embryo alumni such as guitarist and oud player Roman Bunka (also of the related group Dissidenten) and producer/guitarist Jan Weissenfeldt (co-founder of funk acts Whitefield Brothers and the Poets of Rhythm), as well as bassist Maasl Maier (Karaba) and flautist/saxophonist Wolfgang Schlick (the Poets of Rhythm, the Express Brass Band). The album was finished in 2020, and Marja asked Madlib and Egon to release it on their Madlib Invazion label, which was an easy sell. Marja Burchard wrote or co-wrote three of the albums six tracks, and co-arranged the two traditional pieces. Inviting opener Besh combines winding rhythms, pianos, and horns with Bunkas earthy oud playing. Yu Mala is sung and co-arranged by Dr. Mohcine Ramdan, a ghembri player and leader of Bavaria-based Moroccan music collective Jisr, which shares several members with Embryo. The song is smooth, mellow, and gorgeous, with lush vibraphone and guitars meshing with trippy synth fluctuations, and an unexpected shot of adrenaline arrives as the rhythm changes up near the end. The Maier-composed Auf Auf merges Krautrock with Ethio-jazz, simmering with complex rhythmic patterns and unexpectedly erupting in a celebratory freak-out before resuming the initial groove, yet spiking it with more energy. After the sweet, bubbly raga-synth-rock tune Baran, the band launch into Januar, a 17-minute epic that flows through several solos and textures, retaining an exploratory spirit and uncovering new expressions at each turn. The 2021 incarnation of Embryo is every bit as adventurous as any of the other formations of the group during the previous half-century, and the sublime Auf Auf honors the bands legacy while voyaging ever onward. ~ Paul Simpson

ジャズ帝王マイルス・デイヴィスも称賛したAMON DUUL IIの分派バンドとしての側面も持つ69年結成のジャーマン・ロックバンドの2021年作が待望発売! ジャンルとカテゴライズを避けたドープな活動と様々な音楽性が唯一のレイヤーを織り成すembryoとシンクロするMadlib Invazion(USヒップホップ・アーティスト/プロデューサー: Madlibが主宰のヒップ・ホップミュージックレーベル)より投下。英語で"KEEP ON GOING"の意 (「Auf Auf」)をテーマとし、ジャズ～スピリチュアル～エスノ～ダヴ～レア・グルーヴをも包括する"これぞembryo"な傑作にして更新作。
intoxicate (C)黒田朋規