Pink Martini Releases 'The Butterfly Song' Single; JE DIS OUI! Album Out Next Month

Beloved Oregon-based Pink Martini's new track "The Butterfly Song" premieres on The Huffington Post. Listen to the song here. The song appears on their ninth studio album, Je dis oui, out November 18 via Heinz Records.

Along with lead singers China Forbes and Storm Large, founder/bandleader Thomas Lauderdale and his "little orchestra" are joined on the LP by guest vocalists Rufus Wainwright, NPR's Ari Shapiro, fashion guru Ikram Goldman and civil rights activist Kathleen Saadat.

The band is touring in Europe and North America this fall and winter in support of the release, highlights of which include three sold-out dates at the Olympia Theatre in Paris, sold-out engagements at Royal Albert Hall in London and 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, Portugese, 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 since, 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

October 4-6-Paris, France-Olympia Theatre
October 7-8-Aix, France-Theatre de Provence
October 10-Annecy, France-Bonlieu Scene Nationale
October 11-Zurich, Switzerland-Kaufleuten
October 12-Lausanne, Switzerland-Theatre de Beaulieu
October 13-Metz, France-L'Arsenal
October 15-Chartres, France-Theatre
October 16-Tours, France-Salle Vinci
October 17-Nantes, France-La Cite des Congres
October 18-Bordeaux, France-Pin Galant
October 21-Bristol, UK-Colston Hall
October 22-London, UK-Royal Albert Hall
October 23-Oxford, UK-New Theatre
October 24-Liverpool, UK-Philharmonic Hall
October 26-Gateshead, UK-Sage Gateshead
October 27-Glasgow, UK-Royal Concert Hall
October 29-York, UK-Barbican
October 31-Manchester, UK-Bridgewater Hall
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 29-Modesto, CA-Gallo Center for the Arts
November 30-Palm Desert, CA-McCallum Theatre
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 8-9-Raleigh, NC-Meymandi Concert Hallwith the North Carolina Symphony
December 11-Charlottesville, VA-Paramount Theatre
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)

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