Estonia has produced some amazing rockers, bluesmen. Some of whom have been around for what seems like centuries, but in fact merely decades. One such blues band is Kolumbus Kris, founded in April of 1987. For some reason they were not asked to perform at that fab Rock Summer of ’89, and then they took their sweet time recording. 1994 saw the release of If You Don’t Like – one of the first homebrew CDs ever to hit the Estonian market. A rarity, but the slimster heard it in 1999 while visiting a friend in Tartu. Who had it in his collection. A fan was born.
Kolumbus Kris is all about the blues, all about rock influences. What a marriage. And we have founder, lead guitarist Aivar Oja to blame. To thank, really. His axe work would wake the aforementioned Spanish explorer. Who coincidentally (nah, the lean and mean one does not believe in such things ☺) was one of Christopher Columbus’ crew when that misdirected soul set sail the second time for India.
The ballbustin’ crew (Andres Oja on drums, Jaanus Raudkats on bass and lead vocalist Urmas Vare bolster Aivar Oja’s splendid licks) that comprises Kolumbus Kris marked their 30-year anniversary last year with the release of a double CD titled simply 30. By now they’ve hit 31. Wonder if the grizzled bluesters know about -30- being journalese for end. Of an article. Let us hope that this is not the case for the band.
As often with commemorative releases much of what the listener gets is a kind of best-of, with a few newer or even brand new compositions included to induce purchase. KK follows the recipe. As their records are not out there in huge numbers this is not a bad strategy.
‘Tis the second CD though, that has received more airplay in my musical dungeon. How can you not love a blues song putting down disco (Diskomuusika maailmas)? KK know how to live up to the stereotype: Brutaalne maailm (Brutal world). Kas blondiini pärast (Was it because of the blonde) Alkoholi tarvitades (Hitting the hooch – ok, that would be my title for this song). Man, KK is Estonia’s ZZ Top. (Vare’s long hair and beard are not quite Texan, but great for an Estonian. We are often follically challenged when it comes to the chin, for some reason. Perhaps, because just like KK, we lead with it far too often.)
Of the two new, 2016 cuts, the one that stood out was Tõnu elab Võrus (Tõnu lives in Võru. It is a bold, brash, blues statement. Tõnu does not want to work in Finland, cares not a whit about Sweden, - and as far as the russkies… - just listen to this song. It is on Youtube, as are quite a few others from KK’s repertoire. The videos are a vicarious way of getting a sense of what the band is about.
The slimster has never seen Kolumbus Kris live. But that is no reason to sing the blues. If one cranks a classical blues tune such as Ühel ilusal päeval (One fine day) to earschplittenloudenboomer volume (to steal from Steppenwolf’s classic 1970 number), then with eyes closed one is almost in a smoky bar. And who knows? When greying guys like KK and myriad others can still perform like this, then maybe the slight, also too grey one can snake-hip to Kolumbus Kris some fine evening. Preferably in Võru.