1969

Portland, Oregon based ‘little orchestra’ Pink Martini and legendary Japanese singer Saori Yuki have collaborated to record 1969 - a collection of songs from the year Yuki’s debut album was released. The collaboration came about when years ago in Portland, Pink Martini founder and pianist Thomas Lauderdale was thumbing through bins of records when, intrigued by its gorgeous cover and interesting title (translated to Scat In The Dark), he snatched up Saori Yuki’s debut album. Years later Pink Martini recorded her song “Taya Tan,” for their 2007 album Hey Eugene! Then in 2010, Yuki sang the first-ever Japanese version of “White Christmas” for Pink Martini’s holiday album Joy To The World.

Saori Yuki's illustrious career in Japan spans over 40 years however her debut album, Scat In the Dark remained a secret outside of Japan and a small number of fans. In 2011, Pink Martini and Saori Yuki reunited to play benefit concerts for the earthquake devastated Japan in the US. They also completed a full album of music titled 1969 which contains 12 songs, all in Japanese except for one in French. The album consists of covers of hit songs from around the year 1969 and one brand new song. Saori Yuki performed songs from 1969 with Pink Martini at the Royal Albert Hall in 2011 finally allowing music fans outside of Japan to hear her voice live. Now Australians will be able to hear this intriguing collaborations when 1969 is released in Australia on Friday March 23