Pink Martini

Thomas Lauderdale & China Forbes of Pink Martini

Photo: http://oregonmusicnews.com/2010/01/22/aladdins-songs-for-haiti-featuring-lauderdale-storm-cool-nutz-pcp-more-raises-over-150000/

1994 in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, Thomas Lauderdale was in politics, with a long-term plan to be mayor. Attending political fundraisers, something bothered him, no it wasn't the people, it wasn't the subject of the fundraisers, but the music that played at these events. He considered it lackluster, and un-neighbourly. Lauderdale wanted to create an alternative soundtrack to political fundraisers: He wanted a beautiful and more inclusive soundtrack. So he founded the group Pink Martini and would be the pianist ("Pink Martini - Biography").

He called up Harvard classmate, China Forbes and together they began composing songs. In 1997 Sympathique, ("Je ne veux pas travailler") would become their signature anthem. "Pink Martini - Biography").

Pink Martini is very very hard to pigeonhole, as their music crosses a variety of genres and lead vocalist Forbes sings in at least 12 different languages ("Pink Martini - China Forbes"). 



LINKS:
Music Video for "Sympathique": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLaY4aksfRo\
Fun tune!, "Donde Estas, Yolanda": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOWqQsOwzjw
"Brazil": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pn5SpcZWeI


Thomas Lauderdale himself tells "The Story of Pink Martini": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lu15HkoHWM

Pink Martini Interview on The Paul O' Grady Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3xpHaCjxpc



REFERENCES:
"Pink Martini - Biography." 2014. Retrieved from: http://pinkmartini.com/about/

"Pink Martini - China Forbes." 2014. Retrieved from: http://pinkmartini.com/member/china-forbes/