New album
Pink Martini’s Thomas Lauderdale is branching out with a new album, the long-awaited collaboration with Portland’s Satan's Pilgrims — yep, Lauderdale teaming with a surf music band. It’s called “Thomas Lauderdale Meets The Pilgrims.”
It comes out May 19. There’ll be a record release show May 18 at Crystal Ballroom.
Going back to 1993, Lauderdale envisioned Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” in surf style, and a couple years later he began working on Pink Martini’s “Sympathique” as well as “Thomas Lauderdale Meets The Pilgrims.” Now, years later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lauderdale resumed working on the album.
Said Lauderdale: “One hot summer night in 1993 I saw the Pilgrims play, and I fell hard for these uber-sexy studs wearing capes, playing irresistible surf instrumentals. I made my way backstage and suggested that we create a surf version of ‘Rhapsody in Blue.’ We started working together soon after. This album is a physical manifestation of an era of unbridled optimism and artistic collaborative spirit in Portland, Oregon’s cultural history.”
Added the band’s drummer, Ted Pilgrim: “Thomas and The Pilgrims share a love of catchy melodies, classic songs and mid-century art and culture. We both brought our own worlds to this project and enjoyed finding out where they intersected.”
Meanwhile, Lauderdale and Pink Martini have begun their cross-country tour, starting March 3 at Wabash, Indiana. It includes stops in Cannon Beach (April 1) and Hood River (April 22), and a show with the Oregon Symphony (May 6), and concludes at Fairbanks, Alaska (May 13-14).
Academy Awards
Portland-made animation film “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” was nominated for an Academy Award as best animated feature film, and they’ll hear their fate during the Academy Awards, Sunday, March 12, on KATU (2).
Co-director Mark Gustafson and ShadowMachine studio contributed to “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.”
Also, directed by Portland’s Todd Field, the movie “Tár” was also nominated. “Tár” stars Cate Blanchett, and it earned six nominations, including best picture. Fields has previous Academy Award nominations for “Little Children” and “In the Bedroom.”
‘Jeopardy!’
One of his opponents was just too much for Portland’s Avi Gupta to overtake in the “Jeopardy!” High School Reunion Tournament semifinals on Friday, March 3 on KATU (2).
Gupta, a Catlin Gabel School graduate and a 21-year-old Stanford senior who won the 2019 “Jeopardy!” teen tournament, missed his first three questions and fell to negative $3,000 right away. Meanwhile, Jackson Jones surged way ahead and cruised to the win; he finished with $19,780 to Gupta’s $6,652 and Lucas Miner’s $4,802.
Gupta said that he won $10,000 as an eliminated semifinalist.
Blues fest
The 36th annual Waterfront Blues Festival has released its initial lineup for its 2023 concerts at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.
It’s a good lineup set for July 1-4, and four-day tickets are now on sale.
Highlights of the 2023 Waterfront Blues Festival include eight-time Grammy Awards-winning blues legend Buddy Guy, who’ll be making a last Portland stop on his “Damn Right Farewell” tour, as well as genre-jumping roots/Americana group The Mavericks, roots rocker JJ Grey & Mofro and funk guitar maestro Cory Wong. Young artists pushing boundaries of the “blues” genre are also part of the initial lineup: Amythyst Kiah, an Americana artist, and Neal Francis, a pianist.
“The blues has influenced just about every popular music genre in America today, and the Waterfront Blues Festival is a celebration of that wide-reaching impact,” festival artistic director Peter Dammann said.
Said Guy, in a news release: “I want to thank the people of Portland and the Waterfront Blues Festival for inviting me back to their stage. I’m gonna give you everything I got.”
Four-day passes start at $120 and offer the opportunity to explore four stages of music and more than 100 acts.
More: waterfrontbluesfest.com.
Last KISS
We’ll see whether it’s actually the end, but KISS has announced its final tour, the North America leg of its “The End of the Road Tour.” It starts Oct. 29 in Austin, Texas, includes a stop at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Nov. 6 — the legendary band had already played Portland on the extended tour — and culminates with two shows where it all began, at New York City (Dec. 1-2, Madison Square Garden).
“KISS was born in New York City. On 23rd Street. Half a century ago. It will be a privilege and honor to finish touring at Madison Square Garden, 10 blocks and 50 years from where we first started,” the band said.
We’re writing about KISS because longtime guitarist Tommy Thayer was raised in the Portland area (Sunset High grad) and has been a big backer of Pacific University in Forest Grove; his very involved family also has a winery in West Linn.
The news release stated “KISS announced the absolutely final shows of their final tour.” So, it’s coming to an end; Thayer has said it’s time to end the touring, mostly because all members have gotten older and it’s tougher to tour these days.
More/tickets: livenation.com.
Everybody Reads
The community reading program Everybody Reads, by Multnomah County Library and Literary Arts, concludes with a lecture by bestselling author Ruth Ozeki (“A Tale for the Time Being”), 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 16, at Keller Auditorium.
More: multcolib.org.
Chamber Music Northwest
The 2023 Summer Festival, the 53rd and hosted by Chamber Music Northwest, will be June 24-July 29, and include more than 70 artists, more than 60 events, 12 premieres and eight CMNW commissions. It’s themed “Poetry in Music,” and created by Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim, Chamber Music Northwest artistic directors.
More: cmnw.org.