Pink Martini - Don’t miss this band
Pink Martini is a band that hails from the beautiful northwestern city of Portland, Oregon. There are 12 members that make up this fabulous orchestric band. Pink Martini was brought together by a gentleman named Thomas M. Lauderdale in the year 1994. As you’ll read on this page, their policy is to blend very diverse and unique sounds of music such as classical, jazz, samba and even some trip hop is mixed in.
Pink Martini had their debut album in 1997. Their album was called “Sympathique” and was released on their own label, Heinz Records. (Their label was actually named after Thomas Lauderdale’s dog). They sold over 650,000 copies of their record and they were sold all over the world. Pink Martini has performed for such audiences even at the Cannes Film Festival (which was their European debut) and after that, they went on to tour such countries as France, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Monte Carlo, Taiwan, Greece, Portugal, Turkey, Lebanon and of course, the United States.
In October 2004, Pink Martini released their second album which was called “Hang On Little Tomato.” Their concert that celebrated their CD released sold out that quickly that the band had to announce a second show to accommodate their fans who wanted to hear them perform. During the transition of their first album to their second album, their singer Pepe Raphael quit the band to concentrate more on his other band Pepe and the Bottle Blondes. From that moment on, China Forbes went from singing only a few tracks to becoming the lead vocalist for Pink Martini. In more recent news, Timothy Nishimoto went from appearing with the band as a guest to joining them full time, singing the songs that Pepe would sing when he was the lead vocalist.
In comparison to their first album, Sympathique, which featured mostly cover songs, Hang On Little Tomato had nearly eight original pieces by Forbes and Lauderdale. You can hear Pink Martini songs not only on their albums, but in movies such as The Nurse Betty, In the Cut, Josie and the Pussycats and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. They have also been used on television shows such as the The Sopranos, Dead Like Me and West Wing.
Recently, on New Year’s Eve in 2005, Pink Martini performed a live show at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon. This performance was aired live on the show National Public Radio’s Toast of the Nation, and was also recorded live for a DVD. The performance was also broadcast in the United States on public broadcasting stations and also on French Television.
Because Pink Martini is a larger band than others, they sometimes have trouble finding places in other cities to play besides home. Norman Leyden helped them though start performing with difference orchestras across the nation which has been helping them build their fanbase. To read more about them or contact them, visit their web site in privacy at www.pinkmartini.com.