Bring your dancing shoes, because coming soon to a Latvian Center near you (provided you live in the Northeast or Midwestern United States) the schlager group Zeļļi is coming.

Indeed, I had the opportunity to check the boys out as they kicked off their U.S. Tour in the Latvian Center Priedaine, by the Jersey shore, this past weekend.  These guys have been a mainstay of Latvian pop for some decades now, and have made the synthesizer as ubiquitous in the Latvian music scene as the kokle.  Their song “Vēl tu nāc” won top schlager at Mikrofons ‘94.  They hail from Valmiera, in the Northern part of the country and have released about a dozen albums.

Their previous visit to the Garden State did not go so well.  Last summer, at summer festival of Jāņi, they fell victim to both inclement weather and technical difficulties in the form of a power blackout.  As a result, the four-piece band moved from an outdoor “estrade” stage to a hall lit only by candlelight.  Instead of the “electronica” that is part of their hallmark, the fellas performed a capella.  In spite of the hardships, the band’s indefatigable spirit had impressed the locals, and they were invited back to the USA again this year.  The tour is underwritten in part by the American Latvian Association, as well as the cultural association TILTS, headed by the venerable “sakarnieks” Ģirts Zeidenbergs.

Zeļļi played some two dozen songs, and started out the first set strong.  Bandleader Jānis Vējiņš made the requisite introductions and background on some of the songs.  The music ranged from pop to smooth jazz, some melancholic love songs as well as danceable numbers.  The song “Man ir skumji mazliet,” which was a top prizewinner in the 2006 Latvian Music Awards, turned folks out onto the dancefloor.  Mind you, the audience was almost entirely composed of seniors, many septuagenarians.  A few “younger” folks showed up from the “jauniebraucēju” ranks (recent emigrants from Latvia—as opposed to the established community of Latvians who came to the US following the Second World War.) It was rather a sight seeing 60-70 y.o. folks swinging and dancing like they were bobby-soxers from the 50’s.  Ahhh, nostalgia.  It ain’t what it used to be.

The boys were tight, they played very well together, and their stage banter was light.  Lead singer tenor Raitis Treijs was smooth as silk, with the rest of the band backing him ably.  Ivars Birkāns multitasked switching from flute to saxophone, and even took the lead on several songs, especially the ones performed in English.  Birkāns is a relative “newbie” to the group, having joined Zeļļi only 15 years ago, after a long and successful stint as a musician in Raimonds Pauls’ big band.  Far be it from me to judge people on their appearance, but at first glance Ivars looks a bit dour, like he were one of the old-time KGB “escorts” rather than a member of the band.  Looks can be deceiving, as he played a mean sax.  His singing was.... well ... unique.  A low and gravelly baritone, he may have been shooting for Satchmo, but sounded much like Jimmy Durante.  He did work the crowd well, especially during his rendition of the Elvis Presley classic “I can’t help falling in love with you.” It was something to be experienced.  If you plan on attending any of their concerts on tour, and this song is not on the program, request it.  (The band did cheerfully take requests for encores).  Ivars Birkāns belting out the classic tune in his distinctive style is a treasure.  If you have a video camera, capture it, it will be a YouTube classic.  Typical of older generation Latvians, his English is heavily accented.  Imagine if you will—Boris Karloff channeling Nick Cave of the The Bad Seeds.  Still, with his stage presence and the absolute sincerity with which he sang, the performance was downright endearing.

The contributions of Ilmārs Stivriņš should not be overlooked.  He took lead vocals on a few tunes, and his guitar playing was more than adequate.  In fact, his guitar solos are as good as most any live musician I have heard.  He has a sort of Country/Western twang, and it would be interesting to hear what he could do on his own sans the rest of the band.  Not that this is likely, mind you.  Zeļļi is a solid combo, and has been for years.

They are set to play in Brookline, Mass, tomorrow night at the “Trimda” Latvian church and will be back in New York at the Latvian Church in Yonkers on Saturday.  Next week Wednesday the 25th in Grand Rapids, and Saturday the 28th in Minneapolis.  A few more dates in Ohio, Wisconsin, et al. and they wrap their tour up on May 12th at the ALA Congress at Chicago’s Crowne Plaza hotel.

/R

He says (crooning to a finger-snappin’ kinda’ upbeat tempo):
“Es vinu uz stura kleita sarkana ieraudziju tai vakara"…

And he says to her:  “Labvakar, cienita"…

And she to him:  “Tu taisies talak onkulit.  Man skiet tev paplats naudas maks; tu ari izskaties tads svaks.”

A few short excerpts from Zelli, “Velu Vakara”.  Gotta luv those lyrics, if you’ve got a sense of humor at all!

I saw Zelli last year in May, here in Boston.  It was a Sunday afternoon and while it wasn’t exactly a full house, there were a fair amount of people there.  And yes, mostly composed of the “older folk”, me, my friends from the baby boomer generation (from those wild and crazy psychedelic, hippy dippy days when anyone over thirty was a threat, better to be put to death) amongst them.  Some older, as well as those of my parent’s age and generation.  The few who were among the young, were the daughters, grandaugters accompanying their families.

Zelli played just about all the songs from their CD’s, “Mana Dziesma” and “Tev un Man”, including, “Man ir skumjas”, “Vel tu Nac”, etc.  And they also did their famous Elvis Presley rendition on sachs, just as Roberts described.  Maybe because it was a Sunday(?) and the hall wasn’t set up for dancing, the audience mostly sat and toe- tapped, singing along to their favorites.  The only time people got up to dance is when they sang, “Lilijas"and all the Lilijas from 90 on up to the four year old, little, Lilija, there, clapsed hands and danced together.

It was a fun afternoon, but admittedly, I’m a sap for the old time schlager, which brings back oh so many memories throughout the years--all the zalum balles, ballites--and what would a “latviesu trimdas ballite” be without “Tris Vitusas Rozes” the other oldies thrown in at least in the beginning of the evening before the jauniesi take- over with, which used to be some Stones’ numbers, maybe some Pretenders, REM--and I’ve lost track of all the different groups which used to be, aren’t anymore, the airwaves taken over by Ludicrous and/or some other rap, hip hop craze.
But I digress, and have to say, that I am sorely disappointed that Zelli will perform here on a Tuesday of all nights, tonite, if I’m not mistaken and that I will be unable to attend.  Just what that’s all about (a performance in the middle of the week(?), I don’t know!  I suppose the thinking is along the lines of ,what else do a bunch of seniors have to do on a Tuesday night??  And that sadly, this isn’t an event that will be much frequented by the younger Latvians...ah well!  Lai viniem labi veicas and I will be there crooning along in spirit!

Irena