After the five person Madrigaia group walked off stage at the Pantages Theatre in Winnipeg, I think the audience of 1300 was surprised to see a whopping 13 people take the stage in the form of Portland, Oregon's Pink Martini, a "mini-orchestra" specializing in Latin, classical and sultry vocal jazz, often sung in foreign languages. Opening with Ravel's "Bolero, the audience immediately gave them applause after the few opening notes of Pansy Chang's cello. When trumpeter Gavin Bondy stepped up to the mike and blasted out his notes, the room erupted once again in applause. It was a sensational opening piece that showed the audience, without a doubt, this band could play.
Following this tune, leader and pianist Thomas Lauderdale, who looks not unlike a young Asian Elton John with his glasses and shock of spiky blond hair, introduced yet another member of the band, the focal point, singer China Forbes. Forbes, who was also a Broadway performer, dressed in a tasteful black dress, joked about she was shopping at Holt Renfrew and ended up heading back there to try a few more things on. She was very much the confident, beautiful centerpiece but what surprised me the most was the number of languages she sang in! Like Thomas Lauderdale, she graduated cum laude from Harvard. I couldn't tell from my 9th row seat, but Forbes' mom is African American and her dad French-Scottish.
A few of the songs originated from decades old movies, some of which they transcribed only to learn they wrote some of the words down incorrectly. While the band could have taken the easy way and simply played nothing but standards sung in English, I have to give them credit for seeking out songs from other cultures and singing them in their original languages. Forbes sang in Japanese, Portugese, French, Spanish, Croation and Arabic. Still, after a while, I grew a little weary of the foreign vocals. A few other members of the band also sang lead vocals, including the trombonist Robert Taylor. They even joked about how they enlisted the help of a Portland professor to get the pronunciation correct for the Egyptian film song "Bukra Wba'do,"which is on their new album Hey, Eugene. You've got to marvel at the lengths they must go to to find obscure, exotic material to interpret their own way.
Article comments