A global musical sensation, the twelve member Pink Martini Orchestra performs January 27th at Mahaffey Theatre, fresh from a European tour.
Founder, bandleader, pianist Thomas Lauderdale says “Pink Martini is a rollicking around-the-world musical adventure … if the United Nations had a house band in 1962, hopefully we’d be that band.”
In 1993 Lauderdale was working in politics in Portland, Oregon, his hometown, with his eye on the mayor’s job. A musician at heart, Lauderdale was dismayed that the music he found at political fundraisers was “underwhelming, lackluster, loud and un-neighborly.”
Drawing inspiration from music from all over the world – crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop – and hoping to appeal to conservatives and liberals alike, he founded the “little orchestra” Pink Martini in 1994 to provide more beautiful and inclusive musical soundtracks for political fundraisers for progressive causes such as civil rights, affordable housing, environment, libraries, public broadcasting, education and parks.
Pink Martini vocalist China Forbes had met Lauderdale at Harvard where their creative collaboration began through on Campus socializing and late night meetings in the common to sing Puccini, Verdi and an occasional Streisand cover. She’d been writing folk rock songs and playing guitar in New York City when Thomas recruited her for Pink Martini Orchestra. They began to write songs together for the band.
Their first “Sympathique” – with the chorus “Je ne veux pas travailler” (“I don’t want to work”) – became an overnight sensation in France, and was even nominated for “Song of the Year” at France’s Victoires de la Musique Awards. Inspired by romantic Hollywood musicals of the 1940s or ‘50s … but with a global perspective. “We’re a bit like musical archeologists, digging through recordings and scores of years past and rediscovering beautiful songs.”
“The overarching goal is to create a cohesive body of beautiful songs with beautiful melodies. And then it all just extends outward from there. Because the interests of the band are so diverse – two percussionists who spend a lot of time in Brazil; another percussionist who grew up in Cuba; a German speaking trombone player who studied with all the brass section of the Chicago Symphony and likes Miles Davis; an African American singer who studied French and Italian and sings in 14 different; languages; a cellist who speaks Mandarin – because of this diversity inside the band, there are endless ideas. On a bad day it can just seem all too dizzying. But hopefully in the larger picture, it is a more accurate representation of America in 2009.”
Band Members include: China Forbes · Thomas Lauderdale · Dan Faehnle · Maureen Love · Derek Rieth · Gavin Bondy · Brian Lavern Davis · Timothy Nishimoto · Nicholas Crosa · Phil Baker · Robert Taylor · Martín Zarzar · Pansy Chang
Article by Peter A. Roos