Various Artists - Folk and Great tunes from Latvia

A personal word….on the release of the first compilation of Latvian Music on CPL-Music

Sometimes the best things in life happen without you having planned them in the least!
As far as Latvian folk music is concerned, I had a bit of a rocky start, to be honest. This is how it happened: In October 2017, I travelled to the Polish city of Katowice for the renowned trade fair Womex (World Music Expo). The entire world music scene meets at this fair. Sounds very interesting and it is! But for me as a label executive, the fair comes with a lot of work. You have zillions of meetings and you keep running into colleagues, friends and acquaintances. Breaks are rare thing.

And just as I was about to enjoy one of those very short breaks, who shows up but Lauma Berza from the Latvian Music Information Center. And she insisted on arranging a meeting with me, which was just what I needed at that very moment! “I have only five minutes”, I answered somewhat grumpily. She made the most of this short time and surprised me with an informative introduction to the lively Latvian folk music scene. Afterwards she handed me two albums: a Latvian folk sampler and the album by Auli and Tautumeitas.

It was Christmas by the time I finally got round to listening to Auli and Tautumeitas. We all know how it goes: You come home from a fair and you dump all the material into a far-off corner of the office and (almost) forget about it.
But believe it or not: When I listened to the two albums from Latvia, it marked the beginning of a little love story. Since then, the Auli and Tautumeitas album has been successfully released on my label CPL Music.

Incidentally, the fact that this Latvian compilation is now available, is largely due to the persistence of two very special ladies: Lauma Berza of Latvian Music Information Center (and one of the six singers of Tautumeitas, btw!) and Daina Zalane of Lauska Records. Both opened the door to Latvian folk music for me.

With this compilation, I want to offer all those interested a first glimpse into the exciting Latvian folk music tradition. I hope you find the music as exciting as I do! Put on your Pastalas, the traditional Latvian footwear, and let yourself be surprised!

Featured Artists:
Auli / Tautumeitas / Ilgi / Lans / Rava / Laima Jansone / Trejasmens / Raxtu Raxti / ImantaDimanta / JJO -Jauno Janu orkestris / ZeMe / Austrumkalns / Saucejas / Ilža / Zari / Vetras Saites / Daba San / Kanisaifa / Lata Donga / Rahu The Fool / Tarkšku Mandolinisti / Valdis Muktupavels