Splendor In The Grass truly encapsulates the band's history and spirit of global collaboration and inclusivity. Comprised of nine original songs and four covers (with songs in English, Neapolitan, Italian, French and Spanish) it features appearances by the 90-year-old Mexican ranchera singer, Chavela Vargas, Emilio Delgado (aka "Luis" from Sesame Street), NPR Justice Correspondent Ari Shapiro and Courtney Taylor-Taylor of the Dandy Warhols.
Cita:
Over the course of three superb albums that have sold more than two million copies worldwide, Portland, Oregon’s mucho-eclectic outfit Pink Martini have served as international music tour guides imbuing a diverse collection of unpredictable influences ranging from Latin infused sambas, 30’s orchestrated standards, Cuban jazz and lounge-y torch ballads. “I’d call our music old fashioned pop with a global perspective,” says pianist and co-founder Thomas Lauderdale, who is also the band leader. “It has that feeling of the atmosphere of the 30s, 40s, 50s, early 60s, but global in scope.” Pink Martini is known for mixing a wide variety of contemporary pop influences, classical and world arrangements and, from Lauderdale’s descriptions, “Splendor In the Grass” continues in this tradition. “Tuca Tuca,” a popular Italian song from 1970, is augmented with the use of a sitar (the actual instrument used by Peter Sellers in the 1968 film “The Party”) and vocalist China Forbes teams with Sesame Street’s Emilio Delgado for a bilingual version of “Sing” (a song originally composed for the popular kids program and covered by The Carpenters). For the title track, the group drew inspiration from poets William Wordsworth and Walt Whitman and “a little bit of Tchaikovsky.” “I think this is very different than anything we’ve ever released,” he says. “It’s more like an early 70s pop ballad.”
1. Ninna Nanna
2. Ohayoo Ohio
3. Splendor in the Grass
4. Ou est ma tete?
5. And Then You're Gone
6. But Now I'm Back
7. Sunday Table
8. Over the Valley
9. Tuca Tuca
10. Bitty Boppy Betty
11. Sing
12. Piensa en mi
13. New Amsterdam
14. Ninna Nanna reprise
01. Ninna Nanna
02. Ohayoo Ohio
03. Splendor in the Grass
04. Ou est ma tete?
05. And Then You're Gone
06. But Now I'm Back
07. Sunday Table
08. Over the Valley
09. Tuca Tuca
10. Bitty Boppy Betty
11. Sing
12. Piensa en mi
13. New Amsterdam
14. Ninna Nanna reprise