Riga, European Capital of Culture Commemorative Coin

Egils Kaljo | 

In 2014, the Latvian capital of Riga was selected as one of the cities to be the European Capital of Culture, and, to celebrate this honor, the Bank of Latvia has issued a special circulation 2 Euro coin – the first special 2 Euro coin to be issued since Latvia traded in the Euro for the Lat in January 2014.

The graphic design of the coin was created by Henrihs Vorkals, with Jānis Strupulis providing the design of the plaster model. The coin, with a mintage of 1 million, was minted by Staatliche Münzen Baden-Württemberg in Germany.

According to the Bank of Latvia website, “Each country in the euro area is entitled to issue two commemorative coins per year. Also, they are allowed to produce a third coin, provided that it is issued under a jointly organised programme. Latvia’s next 2 euro commemorative coins of special design are projected for 2015.”

For further information, please visit www.bank.lv

Egils Kaljo is an American-born Latvian from the New York area . 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.

Leading Latvian jazz interpretations on CD

Egils Kaljo | 

The MMC (Mūsdienu mūzikas centrs or the Contemporary Music Centre) released its latest compilation of jazz music performed by Latvian interpreters. In collaboration with the organizers of the yearly jazz music festival Rīgas ritmi, the CD, entitled Jazz in Latvia 2014 (MMC CD 013) features various jazz music performances by leading Latvian jazz musicians.

Produced by Māris Briežkalns, himself the drummer in the his jazz quintet as well as the artistic director of the Rīgas ritmi festival, the compilation collects 10 performances featuring musicians like singer Daumants Kalniņš, guitarist Matīss Čudars, and pianist Raimonds Macats, among many others, performing both original works and arrangements.

For further information, please visit the Rīgas ritmi website (in Latvian, English and Russian).
Jazz in Latvia 2014

Track listing:
1. Dream of a Greedy Clown – Matīss Čudars Quintet
2. This is the World – Raimonds Macats Quintet
3. Spring Song – Inga Bērziņa Quartet
4. Technically Disco – Latvian Radio Big Band
5. Lost – Daumants Kalniņš Quintet
6. I Wonder – Māris Briežkalns Quintet
7. The Beat Goes On – Kristīne Prauliņa & Latvian Raido Big Band
8. Fire – Laima Jansone Trio
9. Victoriya – Tree Stones Quartet
10. My Prayer – Toms Juņevičs

Egils Kaljo is an American-born Latvian from the New York area . 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.

Latvian Personal Action Sports Drone Takes Off

Arnis Gross | 

If you ski, surf, motocross, wakeboard, bike or enjoy other outdoor activities you can now capture stunning aerial video for under $1500 – without using a helicopter or specialized filming crew.


Ex-Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis tests early prototype

AirDog, designed by a team of leading aerial system specialists based in Riga, is an easy-to-use auto-follow drone for the GoPro camera and is targeted at anyone passionate about action sports. Foldable, fast and tough, the drone is able to track and follow users and their trajectory capturing every frame with impressive accuracy. AirDog has a flight time of up to 20 minutes and can zip along at 40mph (65km/hr) keeping up with most action sports. To use AirDog, simply strap the programmable remote on your wrist or helmet, choose one of the seven preset auto-follow flight modes (or use the iPhone or Android App to map your flight path) and AirDog will do the rest – even take-off and landing is completely autonomous.

Edgars Rozentals, CEO and founder of Helico Aerospace Industries, is convinced that the latest design based on long-range BlueTooth technology is a winner. In June a Kickstarter campaign was launched with the goal of raising $200,000. Four weeks into the campaign and it already looks like the project will raise in excess of $1M. This investment will go into future improvements including an obstacle avoidance solution to avoid walls and trees.