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In order to find original Estonian yacht-rock, one has to turn his ears towards the coastal towns. Local musical groups have always performed for the pleasure of the inhabitants and guests on the stages and in the pubs in the popular resort town Pärnu. One of the most interesting groups during the 1980s was definitely the mellow pop-music ensemble Keeris.
During its period of activity which lasted for about a decade, Keeris from Pärnu released only one four-song 7’’ vinyl-EP (1985) and two of Keeris’s songs were released in the collection of Pärnu-themed songs “Pärnaõie laulud” (1984). The repertoire of Keeris consisted mainly of tunes by Jaan Laur. They recorded cover version of western pop songs – the backup dancer Helle Soop translated most of the lyrics. Even the refined phonograms for the musical film “Võõrad öös” by the novelty band Kuldne Trio from Pärnu were recorded by Keeris. In the end, the song “Öö ja päev” (“Day and Night”) by the leader of the band Jaan Laur and Jevgeni Abdullajev’s instrumental track “Kujutlus” (“Vision”) haven’t been released.
Keeris was established in the spring of 1977. The local musicians who belonged to the dance collective which was formed a year earlier by the Pärnu Culture and Recreation Centre decided to start its own band. The initial line-up of the band consisted of Valdur Tamm (drums), Jaan Laur (keyboards), Mati Murumaa (solo guitar), Rein Toots (rhythm guitar), Rein Eesmaa (bass guitar) and Viktor Hansen (vocals). Tamm, Murumaa and Eesmaa had already been active in the music scene and played in different guitar bands in Pärnu during the beat-music age of the 60s. Valdur Tamm was also part of the first line-up of the band Fix and was later known as the drummer for the band Kogudus. Tamm and Murumaa came up with the name Keeris (“maelstrom” or “vortex” in Estonian). Later on, the backup dancers were added to the stage line-up and lighting and sound engineers were hired. Murumaa left the band soon after, he was already a full member of Kuldne Trio. He was replaced by Jevgeni Abdullajev and Eesmaa was later replaced by Mart Kivisild.
In 1982, Ardo Juhkov who moved from Järvakandi to Pärnu became the soloist in the band and the former sound engineer Ülo Valtenberg started playing the bass. On the vinyl, which was released in 1985, Kalmar Koit plays the guitar. The group had died out by 1987. Like a proper pop music ensemble, Keeris performed at innumerable stages around Estonia. In addition to that, Keeris also played at the music festival held in Šiauliai, which is a twin town of Pärnu, Siberia, Podolsk and Finland. The band was a welcome guest on TV and radio.
Recorded at Eesti Raadio Studio, Tallinn 1982, licensed from ERR, released courtesy of Jaan Laur. Previously unavailable in any format. Limited edition, 300 copies
A-side:
Öö ja päev 3:57
music & words Jaan Laur
B-side:
Kujutlus 4:12
music Jevgeni Abdullajev
Ülo Valtenberg - bass
Jaan Laur - keyboards
Valdur Tamm - drums
Jevgeni Abdullajev - guitar
Ardo Juhkov – vocal
Art director: Jaan Laur
Remaster by Lynn Petrin @ Ebony Cuts
Layout: Bassein
SHOPPING BASKET OUT OF STOCK!
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In order to find original Estonian yacht-rock, one has to turn his ears towards the coastal towns. Local musical groups have always performed for the pleasure of the inhabitants and guests on the stages and in the pubs in the popular resort town Pärnu. One of the most interesting groups during the 1980s was definitely the mellow pop-music ensemble Keeris.
During its period of activity which lasted for about a decade, Keeris from Pärnu released only one four-song 7’’ vinyl-EP (1985) and two of Keeris’s songs were released in the collection of Pärnu-themed songs “Pärnaõie laulud” (1984). The repertoire of Keeris consisted mainly of tunes by Jaan Laur. They recorded arrangements of Western-European pop songs – the backup dancer Helle Soop translated most of the lyrics. Even the refined phonograms for the musical film “Võõrad öös” by the joke band Kuldne Trio from Pärnu were recorded by Keeris. In the end, the song “Öö ja päev” (“Day and Night”) by the leader of the band Jaan Laur did not feature on the album after all and similarly Jevgeni Abdullajev’s instrumental track “Kujutlus” (“Vision”) was left out.
Keeris was established in the spring of 1977. The local musicians who belonged to the dance group which was formed a year earlier by the Pärnu Culture and Recreation Centre decided to start its own band. The initial line-up of the band consisted of Valdur Tamm (percussion instruments), Jaan Laur (keyboard instruments), Mati Murumaa (solo guitar), Rein Toots (rhythm guitar), Rein Eesmaa (bass guitar) and Viktor Hansen (vocals). Tamm, Murumaa and Eesmaa had already been active in the music scene and played in different guitar bands in Pärnu during the beat-music age of the 60s. Valdur Tamm was also part of the first line-up of the band Fix and was later known as the drummer for the band Kogudus. Tamm and Murumaa came up with the name Keeris (“maelstrom” or “vortex” in Estonian). Later on, the backup dancers were added to the stage line-up and lighting and sound engineers were hired. Murumaa left the band soon after, he was already a full member of Kuldne Trio. He was replaced by Jevgeni Abdullajev and Eesmaa was later replaced by Mart Kivisild. The band played at the Pärnu City community centre which at the time was managed by Jaan Laur.
In 1982, Ardu Juhkov who moved from Järvakandi to Pärnu became the soloist in the band and the former sound engineer Ülo Valtenberg started playing the bass. On the vinyl, which was released in 1985, Kalmar Koit plays the guitar. The group had died out by 1987. Like a proper pop music ensemble, Keeris performed at innumerable stages around Estonia. In addition to that, Keeris also played at the music festival held in Šiauliai, which is a twin town of Pärnu, Siberia, Podolsk and Finland. The band was a welcome guest at the Reklaamiklubi show on TV and Meelejahutaja on radio.
