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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2001)
march 16 , SisterSpirit P r e s e n t s JOaqcmfaíre XI They're back... Portland’s best export, Pink Martini, swoops into town for a few fast gigs by Satu rd ay , St. Stephen's ‘E piscopat ‘Parish R ic h B r a y a WtTivmíry Ci’mpvqtfrú’n Sundays 7:45 it M ‘pfofy Bucharist and ‘Breakfast 10:00 A W ‘Holy Tuclianst aid Choir (Childcare and Sunday School at 10:00 AW ) March E4 12-G pm, Merchant 6 A rtisa n Fair, W orkshops, & Entertainm ent %5-*lQ donation 7 pm Spring Equinox TUtuaf Wednesdays 1 2:10 P.‘ M. « ‘Holy Bucharist The “Rev. Lawrence ‘Tatiowski , rector soi- 221-6424 S.w/. 1 irli and Clay in downtown Portland (parking ir ‘VS'U structure at i tth unit ‘M arket) T hom as Lauderdale (left front) and his dream team appear uncharacteristically relaxed T homas Lauderdale is nothing but energy when we meet at his new digs in down town Portland. T he inside of his loft, built in 1878, allows a glimpse into the head of a very busy, extremely talented man. The walls are covered with posters o f past gigs and old movies. Books and C D s are every where. A lso everywhere is Heinz, Lauderdale’s large yellow dog and the namesake o f the band’s independent record label. There is humor and relaxation amid this chaos, and I feel immediately comfortable there. The cheerily busy Lauderdale just recently moved in, and the spare, neat lofts featured in Architec tural Digest don’t appear to he in his future. T he young gay musician is well-known as the founder and artistic director o f Pink M arti ni, a Portland band that has surely arrived. Reflecting influences from classical chamber music, French music halls and foreign films, the group has recorded only one album, Sympa- thique, which has become a cult and comm er cial hit, selling 325,000 copies worldwide. N ot had for a self-released effort. This past year has been as busy a whir for Lauderdale and the hand as this next year is shaping up to he. In November, Pink Martini completed a marathon 25-city tour o f Europe. The group performed three nights with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in Septem ber and three concerts in Taiwan last August. Rave reviews abound. Pink M artini’s unique sound also can he heard on the soundtrack to Nurse Betty and has been used on the televi sion shows The Sopranos , The West Wing and Third Watch. Travel is a constant in Lauderdale’s life as he recalls a recent trip to the C annes Film Fes tival, where he accompanied the hand’s singer, China Forbes, on piano during a late-night party in a chateau. He’s especially appreciative of the C annes night life, which only begins after 2 a.m. “O ne o f the small disappointm ents of Portland is there is no late-night culture.’’ Reflecting on the energy o f cities like Barcelona, Lauderdale says Portland is not “hot, sweaty and pulsing.” Lauderdale and Forbes recently rerecorded “ Donde Estas, Yolanda.7” for European release. T his spring and summer the hand will alternate between touring and recording. Recording is scheduled to begin in a few weeks on the high ly anticipated second album. Ling before it is com plete, the hand will leave in April for a month’s tour of Europe, then head hack to Portland for more recording, then return to Europe in July. Scheduled for tentative release in spring 2002 and still untitled, the new album will have some thing of a Japanese theme. Describing the new sound, Lauderdale uses the word ukiyo. Literally “floating world,” it originally was a Buddhist term meaning “this transient life in which we suffer.” “ Between 1600 and 1868 the meaning slow ly changed to the more optimistic ‘the temporal moments of joy in this life,’ ” Lauderdale ex plains. He seems to enjoy this philosophy and shift of meaning that “rides the line between incredible joy and sorrow, joy and suffering.” Asked about the content of the album, Lauderdale says Pink Martini will record just about everything it has performed that’s not on the first album, then pull the best from that selection. Options include different versions of the same song— some including the full orches tra, others more intimate. Lauderdale’s guess is that enough might he left for a third album. Until now, he hasn’t been doing that much writing for the band, hut that seems he chang ing as the new album will have some songs with his name on them. “ I’m not really a writer hut find myself in the position of having to write,” he reveals. “ Pink Martini is ultimately right now very much a pop hand, and there’s an incredible pressure to write both inside and outside o f the hand.” Given the quality and variety of songs on Sympathique and all the great material the hand already is perfonning, Lauderdale adds: “It’s a definite challenge to try to write songs which are each as gcxxl as any of those songs on the first album. It’s a huge challenge, if not impossible.” He continues: “ I’m not really a writer. I’m mostly a classical pianist and in some ways a politician.” A t their upcoming and increasingly rare Portland dates, expect to hear selections from Sympathique plus several new songs. I listened to some unreleased tracks off a C D Lauderdale gave me, and the hand sounds tighter than ever. The material is fresh and lively and only makes me wish I didn’t have to wait so long for the next album. j n NEW DANCE WORKS BY OBT ARTISTS AND OTHERS. M arch 22-April 6 Lincoln Hall PSU TICKETS: 503-2-BALLET 5 0 3 -7 9 0 -A R T S OBT Ticket Office 818 SE 6th Ave. M-F 9a-6p P ink M artini performs 8 p.m. March 29 and 30 at the Aladdin Theatre, 3017 S .E . Miluaukie Ate. The opening act will be 3 Leg Torso Sextet, which plays tangos, gypsy folk and modem chamber music. Tickets are $15 from Ticketmaster. Pink M ar tini also will give a free concert 1 p.m. March 29 at Starbucks, 1134 N.W. Glisan St . , to promote a new C D released through the coffee conglom. R ich B ray writes a little in Portland, sees a career counselor regularly and wishes he’d taken more piano lessons. O R E G O N BALLET THEATRI JAMES CANFIELD/ ARTISTIC DIRI Portland Conference Center 30D NE Multnomah, Portland Call: 503-736-3237
