Latvian pop and jazz singer Laima Vaikule is teaming up with pop singer Jānis Stībelis for a 12-city North American tour geared toward Russian-speaking audiences.

Known for her long collaboration with Latvian composer Raimonds Pauls and Russian poet Ilya Reznik, Vaikule has found success in Russia since the mid-1980s. Stībelis, who also uses the English stage name Jay Stever, has performed with Vaikule in concerts in Latvia and Russia. His most recent album, released in December, is the English-language Secret Mission.

Concerts are planned in:

• California at 8 p.m. Jan. 9 in the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, 4401 W. 8th St., Los Angeles. For ticket information, visi www.ebellla.com.
• California at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 10 in the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, 3301 Lyon St., San Francisco. For further information, visit www.palaceoffinearts.org.
• Colorado at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 11 in the Teikyo Loretto Heights Theater, 3001 S. Federal Blvd., Denver. For further information, visit www.gorizont.com.
• British Columbia at 8 p.m. Jan. 13 in the Gateway Theatre, 6500 Gilbert Road, Richmond. For further information, visit www.vancouver.ru.
• Quebec at 8 p.m. Jan. 15 in the Salle Jean-Grimaldi, 1111 rue Lapierre, porte #4, LaSalle. For further information, visit www.westeast.ca.
• Ontario at 8 p.m. Jan. 16 in the Metro Toronto Convention Center, 255 Front St. W., Toronto. For further information, visit www.torontovka.com.
• Michigan at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17 in Millenium Centre Theatre, 15600 J.L. Hudson Dr., Southfield. For further information, visit www.djlafemme.com.
• Illinois at 7 p.m. Jan. 18 in Christian Heritage Academy, 315 Waukegan Road, Northfield. For further information, visit www.bomond.com.
• Massachusetts at 8 p.m. Jan. 22 in John Hancock Hall, 180 Berkeley St., Boston.
• Pennsylvania at 8 p.m. Jan. 23 in Lower Moreland High School, 555 Red Lion Road, Philadelphia. For further information, visit www.russianphilly.com.
• New York at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24 in Millenium Theatre, 1029 Brighton Beach Ave., Brooklyn. For further information, visit www.myconcert.us.
• Florida at 8 p.m. Jan. 25 in the N.M.B. Performing Arts Theater, 17011 N.E. 19th Ave., North Miami Beach. For further information, visit ticketvisa.com.

For more on Stībelis, visit www.jaystever.com.

For more on Vaikule, visit www.laimav.ru.

What’s on your iPod? What, you don’t have the complete Čikāgas Piecīši catalog?! Now you can, thanks to Platforma Music. The Rīga-based recording company is offering digital downloads of all Piecīši albums.

Platforma announced the availability of the MP3 files on Dec. 17, just weeks after the legendary Latvian-American band completed a November tour of Latvia—complete with a Nov. 18 concert in Rīga.

Single songs cost 47 santīms and full albums cost LVL 4.72.

Ten albums ranging from the 1963 debut Čikāgas Piecīši sveicina to this year’s retrospective compilation Čikāgas Piecīšu zelts are already online. Platforma promises that an album of children’s stories and other recordings will soon follow.

Platforma’s television commercial featuring the group can be viewed on YouTube.

For a look back on the history of Čikāgas Piecīši, see Egils Kaljo’s article from November 2007.

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.