Pink Martini's New Album 'Je Dis Oui!' Streaming Now via NPR

By: Nov. 14, 2016
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Beloved Oregon-based group Pink Martini's ninth studio album, Je dis oui!, is exclusively streaming now via NPR Music, who declare, "To take in Je dis oui! is to experience a globetrotting victory lap across no fewer than eight different languages-English, French, Farsi, Armenian, Portuguese, Arabic, Turkish and, in a cover of Miriam Makeba's glorious 'Pata Pata,' Xhosa-all tackled with cosmopolitan sophistication and the playfulness of pop." Listen to the record here:

The album out November 18 on Heinz Records features lead singers China Forbes and Storm Large with bandleader/founder Thomas Lauderdale and his "little orchestra." Pink Martini is joined on the LP by guest vocalists Rufus Wainwright, NPR's Ari Shapiro, fashion guru Ikram Goldmanand civil rights activist Kathleen Saadat.
The band embarks on an extensive U.S. tour this fall and winter in support of the release, with stops at Orpheum Theatre in Boston, Town Hall in New York City and two New Year's Eve concerts at Disney Hall in Los Angeles. See below for complete tour details.
The album title-pronounced "zhuh dee wee"-means "I say yes" in French, and is the optimistic mantra of the album's first single, "Joli garcon" (Pretty Boy), one of three songs co-written by the band for the soon-to-be-released film Souvenir starring legendary French actress Isabelle Huppert. The LP's 15 tracks, many of which are original, span eight languages: French, Farsi, Armenian, Portuguese, Arabic, Turkish, Xhosa and English. Lauderdale notes, "This is the happiest album we've made in years. And it affirms the band's 22-year history of global inclusivity and collaborative spirit."
Je dis oui! was the last album recorded at Kung Fu Bakery in Portland before it closed in June 2016. Lauderdale produced the album along with Oregon Symphony/Pink Martini English horn player Kyle Mustain. The recording was engineered by Dave Friedlander and Steve Sundholm, mixed by Sundholm and mastered by Bernie Grundman in Los Angeles.
The LP follows a highly successful few years for Pink Martini, who in 2014 were inducted into both the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame and the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. Also in 2014, the band released its eighth studio album, Dream a Little Dream, a collaboration with Sofi, Melanie, Amanda and August von Trapp, the great-grandchildren of Captain and Maria von Trapp, made famous by the musical and movie The Sound of Music. The band's 2013 release, Get Happy, received a rapturous reception from fans and press around the world, with Britain's Sunday Times raving that the album is "multi-lingual and defiantly cosmopolitan...the best disc the group have released." In 2012, the band was profiled on CBS Sunday Morning (the full piece can be viewed here).
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 xsince, Pink Martini's albums have collectively sold over 3 million copies worldwide, all on the band's own label, Heinz Records.
The ensemble has gone on to perform its multilingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras worldwide including performances with the Boston Pops, San Francisco Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
PINK MARTINI BAND MEMBERS
Thomas M. Lauderdale-piano
China Forbes-vocals
Storm Large-vocals
Robert Taylor-trombone
Antonis Andreou-trombone
Gavin Bondy-trumpet
Nicholas Crosa-violin
Pansy Chang-cello
Dan Faehnle-guitar
Philip Emilio Baker-upright bass
Timothy Nishimoto-vocals & percussion
Brian Lavern Davis-congas, drums & percussion
Miguel Bernal-congas & percussion
Anthony Jones-drums & percussion
Reinhardt Melz-drums & percussion
JE DIS OUI! TRACK LIST
*singers noted in parentheses
1. Joli garçon (Forbes)
2. The Butterfly Song (Forbes)
3. Kaj Kolah Khan (Large)
4. Ov sirun sirun (Shapiro, Nishimoto, Mustain)
5. Love for Sale (Saadat)
6. Solidão (Large)
7. Al Bint Al Shalabiya (Goldman)
8. Souvenir (Forbes)
9. A?kim bahard? (Forbes, Large)
10. Finnisma Di (Shapiro)
11. Segundo
12. Blue Moon (Wainwright)
13. Fini la musique (Forbes)
14. Pata Pata (Forbes)
15. Serenade (Forbes)
PINK MARTINI TOUR DATES
November 16-Portland, OR-Keller Auditorium
November 18-19-Florence, OR-Florence Events Center
November 28-San Luis Obispo, CA-Cal Poly Arts PAC
November 27-San Francisco, CA-Miner Auditorium
November 28 -San Luis Obispo, CA-Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center
November 29-Modesto, CA-Gallo Center for the Arts
December 1-Reno, NV-Grand Theatre
December 3-Escondido, CA-California Center for the Arts
December 4-Lancaster, CA-Lancaster PAC
December 6-Santa Rosa, CA-Wells Fargo Center for the Arts
December 7-Stanford, CA-Bing Concert Hall
December 9-10-Raleigh, NC-Meymandi Concert Hall with the North Carolina Symphony
December 11-Charlottesville, VA-Paramount Theatre
December 12-New York, NY-Le Poisson Rouge
December 13-New York, NY-Town Hall
December 15-Glenside, PA-Keswick Theatre
December 16-New Haven, CT-Shubert Theater
December 17-Boston, MA-Orpheum Theatre
December 31-Los Angeles, CA-Disney Concert Hall (two shows)
January 11-Scottsdale, AZ-Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
January 13-Miami, FL-Knight Concert Hall at The Adrienne Arsht Center
January 14-West Palm Beach, FL-Kravis Center
January 17-Jacksonville, FL-Florida Theatre
January 18-Daytona Beach, FL-Peabody Auditorium
January 20-Fort Myers, FL-Barbara B Mann Performing Arts Hall
January 21-Tampa, FL-Ferguson Hall at Straz Center
February 4-Eugene, OR-Hult Center For The Performing Arts
February 25-26-Omaha, NE-Holland Performing Arts Center
March 3-Dayton, OH-Mead Theatre
March 7-Grand Rapids, MI-Devos Performance Hall
March 10-Goshen, IN-Sauder Hall at Goshen College Music Center
March 12-Austin, TX-Long Center for The Performing Arts
March 13-Dallas, TX-AT&T Performing Arts Center
March 15-San Antonio, TX-HEB Performance Hall
March 17-19-Houston, TX-Jones Hall for the Performing Arts
March 21-Salt Lake City, UT-Abravanel Hall


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