Pink Martini

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Pink Martini
Pink Martini at the Oregon Zoo.
Background information
Origin	Portland, Oregon, United States
Genre(s)	Jazz, latin, lounge music, classical, others
Years active	1994–present
Label(s)	Heinz (USA), Wrasse (UK)
Website	pinkmartini.com
Members
Thomas Lauderdale (artistic director) China Forbes Robert Taylor Gavin Bondy Paloma Griffin Brian Davis Derek Rieth Martin Zarzar Phil Baker Timothy Nishimoto Maureen Love
Former members
Doug Smith Jonas Tauber David Eby John Wager Richard Rothfus

Pink Martini is a "little orchestra"^[1] from Portland, Oregon, formed in 1994 by pianist Thomas M. Lauderdale. They blend such diverse 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 time period inspiring many of their songs.

1 History
2 Personnel
- 2.1 Touring members
3 Discography
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Originally brought together to play political functions in Portland^[1], Pink Martini made its European debut at the Cannes Film Festival.^[1] 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 and even Arab and Modern Greek.^[1]

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.^[2] 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, helping the band go in a more original direction.^{[neutrality disputed]}

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^{[citation needed]}. 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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, thus building its fan-base. 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. ^[3]