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