MUCHO TALENT—Pink Martini proves music is the international language. Courtesy photo
Their tagline reads, “If the United Nations had a house band . . .” The Portland, Oregon–based group Pink Martini has been around since 1994, but it’s time to consider them not just a phenomenon with a cult following, but a national treasure.
In an era when political factions vilify anything that is non-white, non-Christian and non-American, a convivial, sellout crowd of Pink Martini fans filled the Kavli Theatre on March 13 for a joyous celebration of world music at its finest.
Pink Martini’s popularity has inspired two generations’ worth of copycat groups with its scintillating blend of classical, Latin, pop and jazz styles, ranging from retro big band numbers and swing to exotic club dance, soul and blues.
Founder and pianist Thomas Lauderdale has been with the group from the start, and he’s still there at the keyboard. His demonstrative style—hands flailing two feet above the keys—recalls showy pianists of the past such as Liberace, but that’s where the similarity ends. Lauderdale’s forte is Afro-Cuban music, in the style of legends such as Noro Morales and Chucho Valdés, yet he can assimilate into just about any genre.
In one three-song stretch, Pink Martini played music from Turkey, Armenia and Greece, to the delight of audience members of those nationalities. And if that wasn’t enough, audience members were invited onstage to sing and display a few dance moves alongside the band.
A Pink Martini concert is a community event in the literal sense, bringing together people from all walks of life and breaking the fourth wall between performer and audience.
Pink Martini has long thrived on a one-two punch of lead female vocalists, China Forbes and Storm Large. However, last July Forbes decided to take a two-year break to be with her family, leaving Large in charge. Large is a force of nature, a six-foot-tall singer of Amazonian proportions (and we’re not talking Jeff Bezos here), with an outsized personality to match. At the concert, she wore a shimmering, low-cut gold gown that brought to mind the outfit worn by Marilyn Monroe when serenading President Kennedy on his birthday years ago. Her solos included the ever-popular “Amado Mio,” famously lip-synched by Rita Hayworth in the 1946 film “Gilda,” and the Pink Martini original “Una Notte a Napoli,” which drew a huge ovation.
Large shared the stage with the group’s elegant percussionist, Timothy Nishimoto, who sang another Martini favorite, “¿Dónde Estás, Yolanda?,” prompting the Martini-ites in the audience to sing along.
The third principal singer is Jimmie Herrod, whose voice evokes pre-Motown pop-soul stylists such as Little Anthony. Herrod performed several numbers, including an impressive version of the theme from the 1960 film “Exodus,” known as “This Land Is Mine” (which he rendered as “This Land Is Ours”), showcasing a crystal-clear falsetto.
Not to be overlooked is Pink Martini’s stellar roster of veteran instrumentalists, including Greek trombonist Antonis Andreous (who joined the group in 2013), violinist Nicholas Crosa (2005) and guitarist Dan Faehnle (1997). Andreous led the charge on the evening’s most impressive number, “The Flying Squirrel,” a 10-minute extravaganza that demonstrated each performer’s virtuosity, capped by a growling chase chorus between Andreous and trumpeter Tom Barber.
A highlight of the concert was the performance debut of 64-year-old Gina Belafonte, youngest child of the late Harry
Belafonte. She now runs the activist organization Sankofa, which she and her father founded in 2012. Belafonte and Nishimoto performed “Train Song” (“Mbombela”), an anti-apartheid protest song sung in the Xhosa language that Harry Belafonte recorded in 1965 with South African legend Miriam Makeba.
Their rendition featured Faehnle duplicating Ernie Calabria’s original guitar ostinato, while Lauderdale replicated Bill Eaton’s funky solo on the clavietta—an air-driven, handheld keyboard similar to a melodica.
