Record date: September 1989
From the moment they first met in the 1960's until Mal's death: Mal and Christian Burchard played together trough all those years on so many occasions. Though there are not a lot of official records, the number of bootlegs circulating on the internet is countless and so is video material. They mostly played together in the band 'Embryo' of which Burchard was a member for most of his life. Mal plays only on 3 tracks on this last record with the German band: on track 6, 10 and 11. The whole album is a bit of a mixed bag with lots of musical styles, personnel changes and separate recording sessions. That is probably what this record misses most: a clear direction or feeling or unity in a musical sense.
The non-Waldron tracks are a mix of Eastern, Indian, Middle Eastern and African sounds. Lot's of native musicians are participating in these tracks giving the music a fascinating international kind of feeling. It's world music but not in the cheap kind of way: the music is truly used to enrich Embryo's own music. They really left most of the psychedelic and krautrock of their '70's behind here. The music is experimental but mostly in the use of Eastern scales and instruments. It's interesting to hear but none of the compositions manages to really make a lasting impression. The variety keeps the music thrilling but makes it sound also a little random.
The Waldron tracks are a little more jazz oriented. 'Abdul' has definitely Mal's trademarks on it but there's little space for him to stretch out. Just like most of the music it's all a little forgettable. 'Barks' could have been better but was cut off and begins in the middle of the song. Unfortunate and a bit of a weird choice. The best and most interesting composition of the album is the last one: 'Lonely Nights' is definitely written by Mal. It combines the most interesting muscians of Embryo including Roman Bunka, Dieter Serfas, Christian Burchard and Mal's own bassist: Paulo Carduso. It's the most jazzy song of the album and contains some excellent soloing by a sensitive Mal Waldron and smooth playing Bunka. Carduso forms the base he was to become in Mal's trio. Great bassist with excellent timing and feel for soloing.
All in all this music is far from bad. It's actually pretty good but it's mainly the the lack of connection trough all the songs which makes the whole album a kind of a weird listening experience. The tracks with Mal are ok but nothing special. Embryo has made more interesting albums, and so did Mal himself. The music is still pretty easy to obtain.
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