August 27, 2009
Swedish-Latvian rock group Alis P has released Uz priekšu, its first new album in 20 years. At this time the group is just vocalist and instrumentalist Gundars Rullis, with Swedish drummer Svante Drake recording the percussion parts.
Now celebrating its 30th anniversary, Alis P was founded in 1979 in Sweden by Rullis (vocals, bass) and Māris Rozenbahs (drums), who were former members of the band Prusaku ansamblis. They were joined by Pēteris Šmitmanis (guitar).
Uz priekšu is the band’s second album. The first, Alis iet pastaigāt, was released on LP in 1988. The band’s song “Laimīgs” was on the Mikrofons 90 compilation record. Additionally, “Aizvējā,” a Latvian version of the Bob Dylan song “Shelter from the Storm,” was covered by Latvian group bet bet.
Uz priekšu features 12 songs, with Rullis providing music and lyrics for almost all of them (the lyrics for the song “Ņujorka” are by poet Juris Kronbergs). The album also features guest appearances by musicians such as Juris Kaukulis and Mārcis Judzis (members of Latvian rock band Dzelzs Vilks), composer Valts Pūce, and other musicians such as Aivars Freimanis, Dita Gaugere and Raitis Freimanis.
Songs on the album include:
- Gaismas ceļš
- Zinu, zinu
- Kā var 20 gadi
- Uz priekšu
- Vienmēr bēdas
- Man salst
- Es gribu (iet gulēt)
- Atzīstos
- No Tapešu ielas
- Arī panki precas
- Tālu, tālu Latvijā
- Ņujorka (3:50)
For more about Alis P, visit www.alispudelis.lv or the band’s site on the social network draugiem.lv.
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.
Formed in 1979, Alis P originally included Gundars Rullis, Māris Rozenbahs and Pēteris Šmitmanis. (Publicity photo)
