January 23, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Pink Martini returns to join the Oregon Symphony and Associate Conductor Norman Leyden for a sold-out Valentine’s Day concert of up-tempo selections on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Media support is provided by K103fm. The concert is sponsored by the Andrianoff family.
Pink Martini presents a fresh take on music of many contrasting styles, including pop, classical, jazz and Latin. Their arrangements are tightly constructed, yet allow for the ten members of the group to display dazzling virtuosity. A fixture in Portland since its inception in 1994, Pink Martini has toured across the United States and internationally and their music has been featured in a number of television shows and movie soundtracks.
The concert opens with Ravel’s immortal “Bolero” and continues with several pop tunes, including “Let’s Never Stop Falling in Love,” “Anna” and “Clementine.” The evening then takes a trip to Latin America with Villa-Lobos’ haunting “Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5,” “Andalucia/Malguena” and Alves’ “Tempo Perdido.” After intermission Pink Martini and the orchestra will present an eclectic variety of tunes, from the classic standards “My Funny Valentine” and “Que Será Será” to James’ Concerto for Trumpet, “Amado Mio,” “Hang On Little Tomato,” “Autrefois,” “Veronique,” “Una Notta di Napoli” and “Temptation,” among other works. The Lions of Batucada join them for a special encore. The program subject to change.
The performance is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets for this concert are sold-out. Service fees may apply.
Comprised of ten musicians, the Portland, Oregon based band Pink Martini was a fortuitous accident, thrown together as the opener for the 3-gal, 3-guitar ensemble The Del Rubio Triplets in the fall of 1994. Since then, the group has gone on to tour Europe, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon and Taiwan. In the United States, Pink Martini has toured the country performing with symphony orchestras including the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, The Nashville Symphony, The Jacksonville Symphony and The Oregon Symphony, among others. In France, their CD has gone Double Gold and the group was nominated for the prestigious “Victoires de la Musique” awards for Song of the Year and Best New Artist.
Pink Martini's concerts and appearances are a moving experience, drawing a loyal and widely diverse crowd. The band performs in a variety of venues, from art museums to airport hangers to smoky clubs and symphony concert halls. Pink Martini takes its music seriously, but it also embodies a keen sense of fabulousness.
Their music has been used in numerous film and television shows including “The Sopranos,” “The West Wing,” “Felicity,” “The Cartoon Network,” “Popular,” “Nurse Betty” and “Josie and The Pussycats.”
Pink Martini represents what is refreshing and new in pop music, respecting the traditions of classical, jazz and Latin, and inspiring a new amalgamation that is hypnotic, cinematic and, above all else, beautiful.
China Forbes (vocals) was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she grew up and later graduated cum laude from Harvard. In New York City, she has performed on the theatrical stage, and with her acoustic rock band at clubs such as CBGB’s Gallery and Mercury Lounge. Her original compositions have been used in film and television soundtracks in both the United States and Europe. She can be heard singing the theme song for the syndicated UPN sitcom “Clueless.” She has collaborated with songwriters Rick Nowells, Billy Steinberg, and with former Go-Go’s Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin. China lives in Portland with her husband and their dog, Foxy.
Thomas Lauderdale (piano) was raised on a plant nursery in rural Indiana and began his formal musical education at the age of six. He has appeared with the Oregon Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, Chamber Music Northwest and the Oregon Ballet and has given recitals in Boston and New York. Thomas graduated cum laude from Harvard with a degree in literature and history, and is the founder and artistic director of Pink Martini.
Robert Taylor (trombone) grew up in Taylorville, Illinois, studied with almost every brass player of the Chicago Symphony and earned his degree in music from Northwestern University. He toured Europe with the American-Soviet Youth Orchestra under Leonard Slatkin and played with the Schleswig-Holstein Festival under Mstislav Rostropovich. Robert served as principal trombonist for the San Antonio Symphony for five years and is currently the principal trombonist with the Oregon Symphony.
Gavin Bondy (trumpet) grew up and studied music in and around Portland, Oregon. His stylistic versatility has led him to work with a variety of bands and orchestras, performing salsa, avant garde, rock, country, middle-eastern music, blues, mariachi and classical. Gavin and his wife Mel wrote and produced the soundtrack to the film “A Christmas Menorah” and produced “Pigeon,” a CD of Mel’s original songs. Gavin currently leads The Woolies, a new band of renegade R&B musicians who play hot jazz.
Paloma Griffin (violin) born in Fresno, California, is currently a member of the Oregon Symphony. An avid chamber musician, she has collaborated with Portland-based ensembles Third Angle and her string trio, “3.” Paloma has performed both chamber music and solo recitals throughout the United States and Europe, in Carnegie Hall, San Francisco’s Herbst Theater, Live on Radio on France, BBC Radio England and WGBH Boston. In addition to the Oregon Symphony, she has appeared with the New World Symphony and the Fresno Philharmonic.
Doug Smith (vibes and percussion) grew up in Arlington, Massachusetts and received a scholarship from the University of Oregon where he studied percussion performance. He was a member of the 1985 world champion Garfield Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps. Doug is a board member of Ethos Inc., a non-profit organization which brings after-school music education to under-privileged youth in the Portland area. He also leads his own band, Substrate, and is developing educational materials for his company, Therhythmlab.
Brian Davis (congas and percussion) was raised in Portland, Oregon and his musical studies have taken him to India, Japan, Jamaica, Europe, New York, Puerto Rico and Brazil. Brian is the founder/director of the Lions of Batucada, an ever-growing 48-piece Brazilian-styled dance and percussion ensemble. He is on the faculty of the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, and teaches body percussion workshops and samba music clinics for schools throughout the northwest as part of the Young Audiences of Oregon and Washington program.
Derek Rieth (percussion) began his musical career focusing on Afro-Caribbean and Brazilian folkloric and popular drumming styles. His studies have taken him to Cuba, Brazil, New Orleans and New York. His teachers include Jorge Alabe, Boca “Rum” Bezerra, Regino Jimenez, Jesus Alfonso, Pello Gonzalez, Miguelito Bernal, Terecita Dome-Perez, Michael Spiro, Scotty Wardinsky and Kpani Addy. In 1996, Derek, along with Brian Davis and Andrew Hartzell, co-founded the Lions of Batucada, a Brazilian-style percussion ensemble. Aside from his work with Pink Martini, he performs with Grupo Ire, Black Angel and Substrate. In addition, he works with Teatro Milagro, a community theater group, which presents music and dance traditions of the Caribbean, Central and South America.
Martin Zarzar (drums) was born in Lima, Peru. He began to study drum-set and hand percussion at age thirteen, and his professional music career began at age fifteen in Portland, Oregon, when he met the group Al Andalus, with whom he traveled, performed, and recorded. In 1996 he was awarded a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, and he now holds a Magna Cum Laude Bachelor’s Degree in Drum-Set Performance. He has traveled as a performer to Europe, Canada, South America, and within the United States, performing alongside Simon Shahin, Jamey Haddad, and Pink Martini, among others.
The Lions of Batucada are a Portland based Brazilian-style marching samba ensemble, playing music inspired by the Escolas in Rio de Janeiro, and the Blocos in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Utilizing traditional instruments, rhythms, and choreography, The Lions have performed for an enormous variety of audiences, from opening act engagements with artists such as David Byrne, Sean Lennon and The Dandy Warhols to Rose Festival Parades and collaborations with Pink Martini and The Oregon Symphony.
Founded in 1996 by Directors Brian Davis and Derek Reith, The Lions offer weekly classes in music and dance, sponsor clinics with international artists, conduct team building seminars for corporations, and provide samba based residencies and lecture/demonstrations for regional schools and universities.
