Pink Martini
The Grand Sierra Resort
Reno, NV
December 11, 2023
By Dan Locke
During the first part of the Christmas Holiday Season, Artown brought the 13-piece orchestra Pink Martini to the Grand Sierra Resort.Season. Artown provides opportunities for hundreds of artists and organizations throughout the year, creating a real presentation of arts and culture for the Reno community, which they had never had before.
Pink Martini is led by Thomas Lauderdale, who created Pink Martini to showcase a rotating collection of eclectic musicians. Playing classical and jazz, Latin and pop, what threads the performances together is a light-hearted, jazz vibe that commands you to dance and enjoy the night.
Twenty years after their inception, Pink Martini featuring China Forbes still tours the world, singing in 22 languages at opera houses, concert halls, film festivals, museums and fashion shows. In 2014, Pink Martini was inducted into both the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame and the Oregon Music Hall of Fame.
The night started off with an introduction by Beth Macmillan and Abbey Stephenson giving us a fun view of how Pink Martini and Artown have become part of the holiday season in Reno.
Pink Martini set was a true Christmas show with music basic off their Christmas album (Joy to the World) and a sparkle of other Christmas and Hanukkah songs from their music catalogue.
What was nice was they took timeless songs (give them a fresh sound) and a great explain was a trio of Christmas songs: “Do You Hear What I Hear” featuring full Latin percussion rhythms and trumpet solos, with China Forbes’ amazing voice putting it to the top. Next was an updated version of “Santa Baby” reflecting our political correctness society. And last was a jazzed version of “We Three Kings” which I have included within the slide show.
The best song of the night was “Hey Eugene” while it was not a Christmas song it was a love song about a boy China met at a party and she gave him her number and never called her. I am sure if he ever heard the song he would say what a fool I was. But to China, it was his loss.
For your information you may wonder has Pink Martini ever had a hit?
Hey Eugene! Debuted at number 30 on the US Billboard 200, selling 19,000 copies in its first week. As of 2009, 140,000 copies had been sold in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In 2014 it was awarded a diamond certification from the Independent Music Companies Association, denoting sales in excess of 200,000 copies across Europe. According to Pink Martini, the album has sold more than 350,000 copies worldwide.
They closed out the night with Auld Lang Syne. What a night for a party. There was dancing all through the place. And not a dry eye at the end.
Setlist
- Tempo Perdido
- Amado Mio
- Little Drummer Boy
- Merry Little Christmas
- Congratulations
- Ocho Kandelikas
- Destino
- Patapan
- Elohai
- Jingle Bells
- Talj Talj
- The Flying Squirrel
- Sympathique
- Do You Hear What I Hear
- Santa Baby
- We Three Kings
- Hey Eugene
- Dansez-vous
Encore
- White Christmas
- Ixim Ixoq
- Tomorrow
- Auld Lang Syne
The band
- Thomas Lauderdale – Leader, Piano
- China Forbes – Lead Vocals
- Jimmie Herrod – Vocals
- Edna Vasquez – Vocals, Guitar
- Timothy Nishimoto – Vocals, Percussion
- Phil Baker – Upright Bass
- Tom Barber – Trumpet
- Antonis Andreu – Trombone
- Nicholas Crosa – Violin
- Dan Faehnle – Guitar
- Brian Lavern Davis – Congas, Drums, Percussion
- Miguel Bernal – Congas, Percussion
- Reinhardt Merz – Drums, Percussion
Website | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | TikTok | Instagram |
