Pink Martini / Saori Yuki
1969
[ CD ]

TWO NEW ALBUMS FROM PORTLAND'S RENOWNED "LITTLE ORCHESTRA"

Widely considered to be the “Barbra Streisand of Japan,” Saori Yuki released her debut album in Japan in 1969 and went on to make over 30 albums in her 42 years. Yuki discovered Pink Martini after the band covered her song “Taya Tan” for their 2007 album Hey Eugene! Most recently, she sang a verse of “Silent Night” in Japanese for the band’s hit 2010 holiday album Joy To The World.

In honor of the year of her debut release, Saori Yuki partnered with Pink Martini and producer Thomas M. Lauderdale to create a loving tribute to the music released in 1969. Featuring Japanese pop hits alongside internationally recognized tunes like Jorge Ben’s “Mas que nada” and “Puff the Magic Dragon,” 1969 is a brilliant collaboration featuring Thomas M. Lauderdale’s magical arrangements, Pink Martini’s stellar musicianship, and Saori Yuki’s soaring vocals.

Pink Martini:
Joy To The World Party II
[ LP ]

The first two volumes in a series of three limited edition 10” vinyl records of festive holiday music from around the world! Both volumes feature clear vinyl, in editions limited to 2,000 copies, with embossed snowflake packaging. Pink Martini pledges to donate 100% of the profits of the sale of this record directly to charities working to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression worldwide.

Pink Martini:
Joy To The World
[ CD ]

Bubbly jazz, retro lounge and technicolor fantasies of '50s era holiday music come together in the festive potpourri of Pink Martini. The band, who has developed a following with their nouveau martini-bar multicultural fusion music, brings many of these same sensibilities to their first holiday outing, proving unique renditions of classic holiday songs, Jewish Hanukkah pieces, the opera music of Verdi and even a taste of Christmas in Hawaii. All of the songs have a jazz lounge essence to them, pairing shuffling rhythms with piano, keyboards and strings, as China Forbes' intoxicating voice leads the way. Things get particularly fun with the island slide guitar-laden "Snowglobe Christmas" and the percolating Latin jazz rendition of the Jewish song "Ocho Kandelikas," which recalls the vintage sound that made "Amado Mio" a hit.

Pink Martini:
Splendor In The Grass
[ CD ]

Pink Martini’s three previous albums have sold over 2 million copies worldwide. Long-awaited fourth album features several songs in a classic Pink Martini style alongside excursions into 1970s, modernist minimalism, classic ranchera, and swing. Partnering with high-powered NYC publicity firm Sacks & Co. (Björk, David Byrne, Buena Vista Social Club) to publicize Splendor in the Grass. Famed Dandy Warhols guitarist and leader Courtney Taylor-Taylor appears on the title track. Velvet-voiced Emilio Delgado, famous as Luis on Sesame Street, duets with China Forbes on “Sing.” Legendary 90-year-old ranchera singer Chavela Vargas, formerly the lover of painter Frida Kahlo, guests on Agustin Lara classic “Piensa en mi.” Popular NPR correspondent Ari Shapiro makes his professional recording debut on the Pink Martini original “But Now I’m Back.”

Pink Martini:
Discover The World: Love In Concert
[ DVD ]

Join Pink Martini in concert as they musically travel the globe, from the cafés of Paris to Carnaval in Brazil to the streets of Tokyo. Discover the internationally acclaimed ensemble that the New Yorker has described as “breathtaking” as they take you on a kaleidoscopic cultural journey blended with the grand romance of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Filmed in the ensemble’s hometown of Portland at the historic Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, this DVD presents a thrilling full-length concert fi lm (seen nationwide on PBS television) in pristine stereo sound, featuring many of Pink Martini’s most beloved songs alongside previously unrecorded rarities.

Contains never-before-seen bonus fi lms and features including a brand new “Story of Pink Martini” documentary featurette and an extensive slide show of Polaroids taken by bandleader Thomas Lauderdale. Includes special appearances by Masumi Timson on koto, and Brazilian marching band the Lions of Batucada.

China Forbes: '78
[ CD ]

For ten years, China Forbes has toured the world as lead singer of the celebrated “little orchestra” Pink Martini. Invited to join the band by Harvard classmate Thomas M. Lauderdale, Forbes set aside a blossoming career as a singer-songwriter to front the ensemble full-time. Praised as “an unpretentious pitch-perfect chanteuse” by John Pareles of the New York Times, Forbes has grown into an accomplished performer and built a devoted, diverse fan base around the globe. On her long-awaited solo album, Forbes dusts off her guitar and returns to her roots, displaying strikingly personal songs in a style all her own. Filled with intimate stories of love, loneliness, friendship, and alienation, Forbes recorded the album in her hometown with producer/drummer Gregg Williams (Sheryl Crow, The Wallflowers, Dandy Warhols). The stolen sessions allowed Forbes to work discreetly when not on the road with Pink Martini, resulting in a true expression of relaxed creativity.

While ’78 is a noted departure from the sounds of Pink Martini, fans will recognize the autobiographical “Hey Eugene,” appearing here as it was originally written. Backed by Gregg Williams and Eric Earley (Blitzen Trapper), with cameos by Eric Matthews and Phil Baker (Pink Martini), Forbes plays a variety of instruments—including guitar, piano, bass, harmonium, and Wurlitzer— making this record clearly and uniquely hers.

Pink Martini:
Hey Eugene!
[ CD ]

Pink Martini—the genre-bending, best-selling, supremely talented, and raucously fun twelve-piece ensemble that the New Yorker calls simply “beautiful,” “sophisticated,” and “breathtaking”—returns with Hey Eugene!, a twelve-track sonic journey anchored by deft songwriting and a no-holds-barred dose of cabaret showmanship. “We’re kind of like musical archaeologists, bringing melodies and rhythms from different parts of the world together to create something that is modern,” explains bandleader, artistic director, and founder Thomas Lauderdale.

Pink Martini:
Hang On Little Tomato
[ CD ]

Somewhere between a 1930s Cuban dance orchestra, a classical chamber music ensemble, a Brazilian marching street band and Japanese film noir is the 12-piece Pink Martini.

Part language lesson, part Hollywood musical, the Portland, Oregon-based "little orchestra" was originally created in 1994 by Harvard graduate Thomas M. Lauderdale to play at political fundraisers for progressive causes such as public broadcasting, clean water, libraries, civil rights and affordable housing. In the years following, Pink Martini has gone on to perform its multilingual repertoire on concert stages, in smoky clubs and with symphony orchestras throughout Europe, Greece, Turkey, Taiwan, Lebanon and the U.S.

Pink Martini's debut album, Sympathique, released on the band's own label, Heinz Records, has sold over 600,000 copies worldwide. Nominated for "Song Of The Year" and "Best New Artist" at France's Victoires De La Musique awards, Sympathique has gone Double Gold in France and Gold in Greece. To date, it has sold over 275,000 copies in North America alone.

Hang On Little Tomato, Pink Martini's much-anticipated second album, features a collection of original songs written by the band and its extended family, as well as a few undiscovered gems reinterpreted in high style. Drawing on themes articulated on Sympathique, Hang On Little Tomato is the rich result of the group's diverse collaborations and inspirations. From an advertisement for Hunt's Ketchup in a 1964 issue of Life magazine to a dance sequence in the 1950 Italian film Anna, Hang On Little Tomato includes songs in French, Italian, Japanese, Croatian, Spanish and English. "Una Notte A Napoli," for example, was written with Alba Clemente—an Italian stage and television star in the 1970s—and DJ Johnny Dynell of the legendary New York-based nightclub Jackie 60. In a reworking of the Japanese song "Kikuchiyo To Mohshimasu," Pink Martini collaborated with Hiroshi Wada, the slide guitarist whose group originally recorded and released the song 40 years ago.

Originally released in 1997, Sympathique met with rave reviews worldwide, finding a place within the hearts of many and selling well over a half million copies. Building its legacy through unstoppable word of mouth, select high profile symphony dates, prominent placement in film & television and fashionable private appearances, Pink Martini has returned with their highly-anticipated follow up. Hang On Little Tomato is every bit the new album Pink Martini fans have been longing for. Lush string arrangements, soaring vocals and cosmopolitan rhythms unfurl from the brilliant international hemisphere that is Pink Martini.

Pink Martini:
Sympathique
[ CD ]

Pink Martini is the brainchild of classically-trained pianist Thomas M. Lauderdale and vocalist China Forbes; fusing a vast array of influences spanning Cuban jazz to music hall to film scores, the group has honed an exotic sound which led to their classic debut Sympathique.

With Sympathique, Pink Martini has created a record that is timeless and beautiful. The New Yorker called it “breathtaking.” A phenomenal independent success story, Sympathique continues to grow in popularity across the US as the band tours and the word about this music spreads via television and film appearances, tracks on smart and sexy compilation albums, and a highly dedicated fan base.

PLEASE NOTE: The track "Bolero" is no longer on this CD.

Press Quotes

"Everyone's hankering for Pink Martini. Not the drink, the band—the Portland-based ensemble that's become a darling of the fashion and entertainment crowds. Even Nina Griscom and Alba Clemente were moved to shake their booties at the group's recent gig at Joe's Pub in New York. Pink Martini's repertoire includes everything from Latin jazz and Afro Cuban rumba to sultry cabaret. 'Whether they're playing around a pool or at Joe's Pub' says Andre Balazs, 'they really have a groove.'" - W

"From the West Coast to the Riviera in the South of France, Pink Martini is less a drink than a stirring sound…and every bit as intoxicating. In only seven years, the Portland ensemble has emerged as one of the hottest commodities on what we could try to describe as the stylish, eclectic jazz fusion scene." - Tennessean

"Pink Martini's debut album incorporates an impressive variety of influences; traces of Cuban music, cabaret and film soundtracks are all discernible on Sympathetique, an intriguing blend of contemporary pop painted with brass, strings and percussion." - All Music Guide

"No matter how Pink Martini gets described, there's always an element being overlooked, a reliance on phrases such as lounge, cosmopolitan rumba or neo-classical that only tells part of this rich story. Impressive at every musician's station, the ensemble produces music that's charming and elegant, a tribute to leader Thomas Lauderdale's adept handling of Cuban rumba and Parisian cafe tunes and his ability to balance them with a bit of Carnival disco, a quickie from composer Heitor Villa-Lobos and 'Que Sera Sera.'" - Variety

"This 10-piece Portland combo has become a regular attraction on the symphony pops circuit nationwide, playing recently at the Hollywood Bowl, among other places. Their first (and so far, only) album, 1997's Sympathique, was a staple at the Starbucks counter for years. The attraction is not hard to explain. Pink Martini begins with a solid base of classical expertise. To that base, the group adds a mix of Latin jazz, French art songs, swing and the occasional Carmen Miranda tune." - Spokesman-Review