PINK MARTINI ON TOUR THIS SPRING

TWO NEW RELEASES, 1969 AND A RETROSPECTIVE, OUT NOW ON HEINZ RECORDS

BAND PROFILED ON CBS SUNDAY MORNING

Portland, Oregon based “little orchestra” Pink Martini will embark on a nationwide U.S. tour this April, including special shows at Chicago’s Symphony Center on April 18 and a sold-out performance at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony on April 20. Subsequently, the band will travel to Europe and Asian, performing shows in France, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Russia and Japan, among others. See below for complete tour details.

The shows will feature material spanning the band’s 15-year recording career and will celebrate their latest album, 1969—a collaboration with legendary Japanese singer Saori Yuki. Released November 2011 on Heinz Records, the 12-track album includes a collection of songs from the year Yuki’s debut album was released. Of making the album, Pink Martini’s bandleader and co-founding member Thomas Lauderdale notes, “It was a great honor to be asked by Saori Yuki San & EMI Japan to work on this album. The initial concept for the album was ‘Japanese hits from 1969’ but upon doing a bit of research we discovered that every country had something significant going on in 1969. So we decided to broaden the scope in a very Pink Martini way and include songs from around the world sung in different languages. The result is a gorgeous adventure back in time to the year 1969 featuring 12 songs sung in Japanese, French & English.”

In addition to 1969, a 21-track compilation album, A Retrospective was also recently released on Heinz Records. The record features eight tracks previously unreleased in the U.S. along with alternative recordings of some of the band’s most beloved songs. It also features guest appearances by Yuki, French treasure Georges Moustaki, American icon Michael Feinstein, famed NYC DJ Johnny Dynell and Oscar-nominated film director Gus Van Sant (making his singing debut). The deluxe hardbound CD book features a 48-page booklet of never-before-seen polaroids taken by Lauderdale as well as rare postcards and posters from the band’s 16-year history.

Pink Martini was founded in Portland, OR in 1994 by Harvard graduate and classically trained pianist Thomas M. Lauderdale to play political fundraisers for progressive causes such as civil rights, affordable housing and public broadcasting. China Forbes, a classmate of Lauderdale’s at Harvard, joined the ensemble in 1995. In the years since, Pink Martini’s six studio albums have collectively sold over 2 million copies worldwide, all on the band’s own label, Heinz Records. The ensemble has also gone on to perform its multilingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras worldwide including concerts with the Boston Pops, San Francisco Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. On January 1, 2012, CBS Sunday Morning profiled the ensemble, calling them “the most popular band, you’ve never heard of.” The full profile can be viewed here.

For more information, please contact Asha Goodman, Mary Moyer or Carla Sacks at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000 or Peter Murray at Pink Martini, 503-249-0808.

PINK MARTINI TOUR DATES 
*with special guest Saori Yuki

April 13-15 /// Indianapolis, IN /// Hilbert Circle Theatre
with Indianapolis Symphony
April 17 /// St. Paul, MN /// Fitzgerald Theater
April 18 /// Chicago, IL /// Symphony Center
April 20 /// Seattle, WA /// Benaroya Hall
with the Seattle Symphony
May 10 /// Cleveland, OH /// State Theater
May 11 /// Kalamazoo, MI /// Chenery Auditorium
May 13 /// Coutances, France /// Jazz Festival
May 16 /// Tallinn, Estonia /// Nokia Kontserdimaja
May 17 /// Riga, Latvia /// Rigas Kongresu nams
May 19 /// Luxembourg Festival /// Saveurs Culturelles du Monde
May 23 /// Warsaw, Poland /// Sala Kongresowa
May 24 /// Wroclaw, Poland /// Klub Eter
May 26 /// Bucharest, Romania /// Sala Palatului
May 28 /// Timisoara, Romania /// la Sala Olimpia
May 29 /// Cluj-Napoca, Romania /// Sala Sporturilor Horia Demian
May 31 /// Belgrade, Serbia /// Beogradska Arena
June 2 /// Moscow, Russia /// Usadba Jazz
June 5 /// Chiba, Japan /// Chiba-ken Bunka Kaikan*
June 7 /// Tokyo, Japan /// Tokyo International Forum Hall-C*
June 9 /// Osaka, Japan /// ORIX Gekijo*
July 4 /// Dublin, Ireland /// National Concert Hall
July 5 /// London, UK /// Kew The Music @ Kew Gardens
September 6 /// San Diego, CA /// Humphrey’s Concerts By The Bay