The lounge orchestra Pink Martini — one part swank, two parts 1930s jazz, with a splash of Latin percussion and 12 or so of the best of the musicians to come out of Portland — will perform this June and July with the San Francisco Symphony, setting off a rather urbane holiday weekend. [Editor's note: Lucy Woodward has been announced as the replacement for China Forbes who will undergo vocal cord surgery]
The group formed in 1994 when pianist-bandleader Thomas Lauderdale attended a political function and decided the music was not to his taste. He called up crooner and front woman China Forbes, grabbed a few buddies from overlapping bands, and chose a name that was as cool as they are (and for no other reason than that). Très Dixieland et Swing, non?
“I was working in politics at the time ... so I’d go to these various political functions and I didn’t like the music that was being played,” said Lauderdale. “So I started the band to basically provide musical wallpaper for these events. And the goal was to really [produce] some music that would appeal to conservatives, liberals, and everybody in-between: older people and younger people and also people from different parts of the world. So it became kind of this global, symphonic, old-fashioned pop orchestra.”
As contradictory as it seems, the breadth of their appeal and their niche following are just a few reasons for their signature sound. It’s the reason why one song might sound like a throwback to the First Lady of Song while another is reminiscent of 1960s bossa nova and yet another could as easily contain Japanese.
“All of us in Pink Martini have studied different languages, as well as different styles of music from different parts of the world. So inevitably, because everyone has participated at some point in the writing or arranging of songs, our repertoire is wildly diverse,” said Lauderdale on the band Web site. “At one moment, you feel like you’re in the middle of a samba parade in Rio de Janeiro, and in the next moment, you’re in a French music hall of the 1930s or a palazzo in Napoli. It’s a bit like an urban musical travelogue.”
Without a doubt, conducting the Pink Martini concerts with the San Francisco Symphony is one of the highlights of my season every year. The energy and enthusiasm of the audience is infectious.
Another reason is that they’ve played with several symphony orchestras across the country, and their global appeal is striking. In fact, their first single, Sympathique, became popular in France before the jam session came back home. Since then, the “little orchestra” has played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Omaha Symphony, the Boston Pops, and the BBC Concert Orchestra, totaling at least 40 different orchestra pairings.
And all this came as a surprise to the band.
“None of us had ever thought of it as actually a viable source of income,” Lauderdale said. But the band doesn’t mind. Neither does the audience, as varied as they may or may not be. The group prefers to use their overseas experiences and their aggregate gumbo-pot style of music to make sure that everyone sits together — and has a good time.
The fun begins on June 30 and July 1 with concerts at Davies Symphony Hall, plus one more on July 2 at the Flint Center in Cupertino with NPR’s Ari Shapiro as the special guest.
Perhaps the best part of listening to Pink Martini is that they know who they are and always look forward to representing both America and great music.
“Virtually, we’re ambassadors when we’re playing any kind of music ... The thing is, we’re an American band. There’s a diplomacy to that,” said Lauderdale. “I think it’s great to have people who really would never sit together to sit together.”
Of Pink Martini, S.F. Symphony Resident Conductor Donato Cabrera, who lead the group with the Symphony in 2009 and 2010, says: “Without a doubt, conducting the Pink Martini concerts with the San Francisco Symphony is one of the highlights of my season every year. The energy and enthusiasm of the audience is infectious and I might even be enticed to join the conga line this year!”