Pink Martini in San Francisco

Pink Martini is an American ensemble formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1994 by pianist Thomas Lauderdale. The group plays orchestral pop, jazz, Latin music and chanson, often in several languages. Its debut album, Sympathique, introduced the title song known for the refrain “Je ne veux pas travailler”; later releases include Hang On Little Tomato and Hey Eugene!. In 1997, Pink Martini made its European concert debut at the Cannes Film Festival. The following year, it made its orchestral debut with the Oregon Symphony under Norman Leyden, and collaborations with symphony orchestras became a recurring part of its live work, including performances with the Boston Pops. Thomas Lauderdale leads the ensemble from the piano, while singers including China Forbes and Storm Large perform a multilingual repertoire supported by brass, strings and percussion. In Los Angeles, the group has performed at the Hollywood Bowl amphitheatre; in London, it has appeared in the concert-hall setting of Royal Albert Hall.