| Pink Martini | |
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 Pink Martini at the Oregon Zoo.
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Genre(s) | Jazz, latin, lounge music, classical, others |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Label(s) | Wrasse Heinz |
| Website | www.pinkmartini.com |
| Members | |
| China Forbes Thomas Lauderdale Robert Taylor Gavin Bondy Paloma Griffin Brian Davis Derek Rieth Martin Zarzar Phil Baker Timothy Nishimoto Maureen Love |
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| Former members | |
| Doug Smith Jonas Tauber David Eby John Wager Richard Rothfus |
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Pink Martini is a 14-piece music band from Portland, Oregon. The band was formed by pianist Thomas M. Lauderdale in 1994. They blend such diverse genres of music as Latin, lounge, classical, and jazz.
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History
Originally brought together to play political functions in Portland, Oregon, 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, Taiwan, Lebanon and the United States, performing either by themselves or accompanied by various orchestras. Pink Martini's debut album, Sympathique, was released on Pink Martini's own label, Heinz Records (named after Lauderdale's dog) in 1997. Over 1.3 million copies of the record have been sold worldwide.[1] In October 2004, the band released their second album, Hang on Little Tomato. The album cover featured a man holding up a happy child on a blue background. Their CD release concert sold out so quickly that the band announced a second show night. In the transition from their first to their 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 which helped the band go in a more original direction. 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 (Pink Martini website, see external link). 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 band had trouble finding places in other cities to play. With the help of their friend Norman Leyden they started performing with various orchestras across the nation, thus building their fan-base. On June 1, 2007, the band guested on the long-running BBC Two Later with Jools Holland TV music programme. In mid September 2007, the band made a rousing 3 performance return to the Hollywood Bowl in the spirit of the Coconut Grove with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and two razzle dazzle guest performers, Carol Channing and Henri Salvador.
Personnel
- China Forbes — vocals
- Thomas M. Lauderdale — piano
- Robert Taylor — trombone
- Gavin Bondy — trumpet
- Doug Smith — vibraphone and percussion
- Brian Lavern Davis — congas, drums and percussion
- Derek Rieth — percussion
- Martin Zarzar — drums
- Phil Baker — bass
- Timothy Nishimoto — vocals and percussion
- Maureen Love — harp
Touring members
- Pansy Chang — cello
- Dan Faehnle — guitar
- Claude Giron — cello
- Brant Taylor — cello
- Nicholas Crosa — violin
Discography
References
- ^ "Make mine Martini", Portland Tribune, retrieved May 15 2007.
