Pink Martini

Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Pink Martini crosses genres from jazz to lounge to classical and has as many as a dozen members at any given time. The group’s lead vocalist and main songwriter, however, is China Forbes, who formed the band with her Harvard classmate Thomas Lauderdale in 1994. Multilingual -- Forbes can sing in fifteen different languages -- and influenced by world music, Pink Martini is a big draw across Europe. The band has performed with orchestras around the globe, including at the grand opening of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Walt Disney Concert Hall. The eclectic band of musicians has released seven studio albums, with Hey Eugene! (2007) its biggest U.S. hit, and its quirky music has appeared in many TV shows and movies, including The Sopranos and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The band has also collaborated with familiar names in music like Rufus Wainwright and Courtney Taylor of The Dandy Warhols as well as less expected partners like movie director Gus Van Sant and NPR White House correspondent Ari Shapiro. Pink Martini's 2010 non-denominational holiday album Joy to the World has become a fixture of Starbucks' holiday atmosphere music.