December 21, 2008
A three-compact disc set containing all songs recorded by the Latvian-American trio Trīs no Pārdaugavas (Felikss Ērmanis, Mārtiņš Ērmanis and Vilnis Baumanis) is now available.
The set is called Reiz dziedāja and its release was supervised by Baumanis, the sole living member of the group. Mārtiņš Ērmanis died in 2000 and Felikss Ērmanis died in 2004.
The collection contains the debut album from 1970, Zilā jūriņā (1972), Dienu virpulī (1975), Mīkstās mēbelēs (1979) and No tālām robežām (1985), as well as six additional songs recorded in the early 1990s and originally released in 1992 on the cassettes Ar rozi un prievīti and Tēvzemei. In all, the set includes 70 songs.
The trio’s album of children’s songs, Circeņa kāzās (1974), was released on CD separately in 2004.
The group’s career lasted from the 1970s to the early 1990s, and was a popular draw in Latvian centers in the United States, Canada and Europe. Trīs no Pārdaugavas also gave a concert tour in Latvia in 1990, including a performance at the Mežaparks open air stage in Rīga.
The package includes a booklet with lyrics to all the songs, as well as notes about many of the songs, and a short essay by Baumanis.
The CD set may be ordered from Vilnis Baumanis, 15542 Ambiance Drive, North Potomac, MD 20878, or from Inga Priede, 935 Flintlock Road, Southport, CT 06890. For more information, e-mail tnpepasts@gmail.com.
Egils Kaljo is an American-born Latvian from the New York area who lives in Rīga, Latvia. When not working in the information technology field, he sings in the Latvian Academy of Culture mixed choir Sõla, does occasional translation work, and has been known to sing and play guitar at the Folkklubs Ala Pagrabs in Old Rīga. Kaljo began listening to Latvian music as soon as he was able to put a record on a record player, and still has old Bellacord 78 rpm records lying around somewhere.
