Tomislav Goluban – Crazy Hill Live
Independent
11 Tracks – 50 minutes
Croation born and continued resident to the country, Tomislav Goluban, has developed an international reputation having played all across Europe and on tours in America including competing in the International Blues Challenge. His last name translates in English to “Little Pigeon” which he has taken as his nickname. Tomislav is well recognized as one of the top harmonica players in the world today. He has won numerous European awards and took fourth place at the 2005 World Harmonica festival. In Croatia, he hosts a blues show on Croatia radio and was the founder and first president of the “Croation Blues Forces”, a national blues society, which won the Blues Foundation’s Keeping the Blues Alive Award in 2019. Goluban developed an educational blues music program, “The Harmonica in Blues”, which is presented in Croation elementary and high schools.
He became interested in the harmonica after listening to Sonny Terry records. He also lists Slim Harpo as another of his guides into the blues harp. He says his intent is to instill the feeling of Delta, Country blues and Chicago blues into his songs.
Crazy Hill Live is his fifteenth album. It was recorded live at a concert at The Center for Culture and Information in Ludbreg, Croatia on April 28, 2023. In addition to playing the harmonica, Tomislav also does lead vocals. His band for the concert was Hrvoje Funda on guitar and vocals, Vid Kotarski on vocals, guitar, and beatbox, Tomislav Kusar on bass, and Draguin Jojsak on drums.
The album opens with the instrumental “Extra Boom”, which lets Tomislav establish his harmonica credentials from the outset. He then moves into a slow, hazy blues with “Disappear for Good”. His vocals demonstrate a low, smooth growl, which perhaps can best be compared to Leonard Cohen. An excellent guitar solo also is part of the song. On “Searchin’ for My Babe”, as he looks for her all over town in a bouncing song that throws a touch of Elvis into his refrain.
“Forhill’s Boogie” really gets things jumping as Tomislav proclaims “when you feel that you want to jump and shout…do the boogie”. “Kaj God Blues” slows things down again and he sings this song in his native language. “Train Beat”, as might be expected takes you on a train ride, with Tomislav delivering a rhythmic trip with only a beat box providing percussion behind his harmonica. The band quickly jumps in with the rocking “Brzi Vlak”, another song sung in his native language.
The “Fun Starts Here” as he states, “she’s got ways to turn me wild”. On “Do the Right Thing” Draguin kicks off with a crazed drumbeat, which leads into a song reminiscent of “Hand Jive”. “Mr. B” is a slow blues shuffle with brief undertones of Jimmy Reed’s “Honest I Do”. The instrumental song at 8:32 minutes allows another interesting mix of guitar work and the harmonica. The album closes out with the rocking “Hayloft Blues”.
The strength of the album is most certainly in the harmonica and the band’s instrumental work. Tomislav’s vocals are comfortable, but they and the song lyrics take a backseat to his harmonica. That is not to say that there is anything bad about that aspect of the album, just that the overall best impression comes from the instrumentals in the songs. If you love harmonica, the album is certainly one that you should consider.
