Pink Martini is a "little orchestra" About Pink Martini from their official website from Portland, Oregon, formed in 1994 by pianist Thomas M. Lauderdale. They blend genres of music as Latin, lounge, classical, and jazz. Their music has often been described as "vintage music", a descriptive which reflects the content, style and period inspiring many of their songs.

History

Originally brought together to play political functions in Portland, Pink Martini made its European debut at the Cannes Film Festival. Leading up to 2003, they toured several countries, including France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland, Monaco, Greece, Turkey, Peru, Taiwan, Lebanon and the United States, performing either by themselves or accompanied by various orchestras. The songs' lyrics involve different languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Arabic, and Modern Greek.

Pink Martini's debut album, Sympathique, was released on Pink Martini's own label, Heinz Records, in 1997. Over 1.3 million copies of the record have been sold worldwide. "Make mine Martini", Portland Tribune, retrieved May 15 2007. The song of the same name is also featured on Putumayo World Music "World Lounge" CD.

In October 2004, the group released its second album, Hang on Little Tomato. In the transition from its first to its second album, guest-singer Pepe Raphael left to concentrate on his other band, Pepe and the Bottle Blondes. Lead singer China Forbes continued to write songs with Lauderdale.

Pink Martini songs appear in such films as In the Cut, Nurse Betty, Josie and the Pussycats, Tortilla Soup, Shanghai Kiss and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and have been used on television shows such as Dead Like Me, The Sopranos and The West Wing, among others. The song "No Hay Problema" is included as background/setup music for Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 and was also used as the background/setup music for an early build of Windows Longhorn, now known as Windows Vista.

On New Year's Eve 2005, Pink Martini performed live at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon. This performance was aired live on National Public Radio's Toast of the Nation, and was recorded for a live DVD and later broadcast on US public broadcasting and French television.

Because Pink Martini has a larger-than-average membership, the group had trouble finding venues in other cities to play. With the help of a friend, Norman Leyden, it started performing with various orchestras across the nation. On June 1, 2007, the band appeared on the long-running BBC Two Later with Jools Holland TV music program. In mid-September 2007, the group returned to the Hollywood Bowl for three performances that included guest performers Carol Channing and Henri Salvador.

On June 14, 2007, Pink Martini performed on Late Show with David Letterman, performing "Hey Eugene". Late Show with David Letterman - 14x163 John Cusack, Pink Martini, Turkey Gobbling Champions - shareTV.org

Through 2007 Pink Martini performed most New Year's Eves at Portland's Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. In December 2008, the band broke with that tradition by performing New Year's Eve 2008 at the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Pink Martini played Walt Disney Concert Hall on New Year's Eve for the first two years it was open (2003/4 and 2004/5). They returned to play NYE there again in 2008/9.

Discography

• Sympathique (1997) Wrasse Records
• Hang on Little Tomato (2004) Wrasse Records
• Hey Eugene! (2007) Wrasse Records

References

External links

• , for a partial list of soundtrack appearances
• Pink Martini official website

American jazz musical groupsMusical groups from OregonMusical groups established in 1994

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