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The celebrated and beloved 12-piece “little orchestra from Portland, Oregon” Pink Martini releases Joy to the World, “a non-denominational and inclusive holiday album” today, November 16th worldwide. The album is available at all Starbucks locations nationwide, in addition to traditional music and digital retailers.

Recorded in Portland, Oregon at Kung Fu Bakery by engineer Dave Friedlander (Prince, the Decemberists), Joy to the World was produced by Pink Martini bandleader/pianist Thomas Lauderdale in collaboration with the members of the band. “In actuality, these albums are actually produced by whoever happens to be in the room at the time,” confesses Lauderdale. “Band members, friends, random people off the street who wander in … everybody has a chance to weigh in.”

“There are 14 songs on Joy to the World,” says Lauderdale, “including well-known traditional holiday songs like Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas”…sung by China Forbes in English and by the incredible Saori Yuki…the Barbra Streisand of Japan…in Japanese. With the Pacific Youth Choir and the handbell choir Bells of the Cascades, we recorded “Shchedryk,” known in English-speaking countries as “Carol of the Bells,” with the original Ukrainian text which tells of a lark flying into the house at the start of a new year, thus bringing good fortune. We recorded a Hebrew prayer “Elohai N’tzor” with Ida Rae Cahana, Ari Shapiro and Patricia Costa Kim. (Ida Rae Cahana was for many years the canter at Central Synagogue in New York City and now lives in Portland… Ari Shapiro is the NPR White House correspondent… and accordionist Patricia Costa Kim was just named director of education at Experience Music Project in Seattle, but is also known by millions on YouTube as the keyboardist bandleader of Sonseed and their Christian ska song “Jesus is a friend of mine”). There’s a Chinese New Year song from 1946, a Fela inspired version of “We Three kings,” a song in Ladino (the intersection of Spanish and Hebrew), “Silent Night” in the original German, as well as a verse in Arabic and another in English. The album ends with a samba parade of “Auld Lang Syne” with choruses in English, Arabic and French over the incredible percussion of the Lions of Batucada.” Lauderdale notes, “I love the holidays and all the music that goes with it. We strove to make an inclusive and non-denominational album that could be played anywhere in the world.”

In tandem with the release of this fifth album in November, Pink Martini will give concerts in 13 North-American cities, including Toronto, Burlington, Boston, New York, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis.

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 since, Pink Martini has gone on to perform its multilingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras worldwide including concerts with the Boston Pops, San Francisco Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Pink Martini’s four previous albums have collectively sold over 2 million copies worldwide (Over 140 000 in Québec).

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SOURCE: AUDIOGRAM