Pink Martini, Trump And The Media, Oscars Recap

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Last week, some news outlets were barred from covering an off-camera White House press briefing…the latest action in as escalating feud between the Trump administration and the media. We look at what’s at stake. We also hear from members of the musical group Pink Martini about what the common threads are in their eclectic mix of updated jazz and hip twists on international music. The group is performing in Milwaukee and Madison this week. Plus, a look at the biggest winners and surprises from yesterday’s Academy Awards!

Featured in this Show

  • Meet Pink Martini, A House Band For '60s-Era United Nations

    Fans of Pink Martini can likely name a dozen or more countries and languages the group’s repertoire touches on. But the early years of the band were filled with playing benefits for a wide range of causes — from gay rights to environmental protection — in their home base of Portland, Oregon.

    Thomas Lauderdale, the founder and pianist for the widely-known and well-loved musical group, said when he started Pink Martini 23 years ago, they, “really became the house band for progressive causes.”

    Their scope has widened a lot since those early years and Lauderdale now says that, “if the United Nations had a house band in 1962, hopefully Pink Martini would be it.”

    The analogy works when one considers the global range of the music they perform and their unique style of performance.

    “The idea is it’s sort of somewhere nestled between (the film) ‘Breakfast At Tiffany’s,’ the soundtrack of ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s,’ those party sequences, coupled with this kind of old-fashioned, global symphonic pop. So, there are songs in 20, 25 different languages,” Lauderdale said. “And it all has this sort of aesthetic that is kind of somewhere between a Hollywood musical and if you were to cross a Hollywood musical of the ’40s and ’50s with the United Nations,” Lauderdale said.

    But why 1962? Lauderdale said that to him, that evokes, “grace and style and space and beauty. It’s old-fashioned really. We’re going the opposite direction of American pop culture. But modern in the sense that we are entirely inclusive.”

    One of Pink Martini’s first big hits was the song “Sympathique,” which was taken up by workers striking in France as an anthem and hearkens back to the feel of a smoky cabaret of an earlier time.

    An interesting mix of song and sound is “Zundoko Bushi,” which the musicians describe as, “a devastating song. The author is actually unknown. It is assumed that he was a soldier in the 1940s who died in battle. The text is, ‘Saying goodbye at the train station, there were tears, but I was really thinking about the (other) girl sobbing in the shadows.’”

    Pink Martini takes those original lyrics and gives it a fun, almost kitchy pop feel.

    Despite performing a global repertoire to audiences around the world, there is no question for Lauderdale about where Pink Martini is from.

    “We’re respectful of the traditions, and respectful of the past, and respectful of the history. And yet, because America is really the most heterogeneously populated country in the world, comprised of people from every language, every country, every religion, that in a sense it is a real sort of American band, in the true sense,” Lauderdale said.

  • Behind The Scenes With The Band Pink Martini

    We talk with the founder of the little orchestra Pink Martini about the band’s unique global perspective and its upcoming visit to Wisconsin.

  • Trump Administration's Feud With The Media Heats Up

    Last week, President Donald Trump called the media the “enemy of the people.” In addition, some news outlets, including the New York Times and CNN, were barred from covering an off-camera press briefing or “gaggle” or Friday. We talk with a journalism professor about these unusual actions and Trump’s escalating feud with the media.

  • Looking At The Winners And Losers At The Oscars

    We look at the winners and losers in Sunday’s Oscar Awards ceremony with Reggie Ponder, known as Reggie the Reel Critic.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Judith Siers-Poisson Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Judith Siers-Poisson Producer
  • Veronica Rueckert Producer
  • Chris Malina Producer
  • Amanda Magnus Producer
  • Thomas Lauderdale Guest
  • Mark Feldstein Guest
  • Reggie Ponder Guest

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