MUSIC

Pink Martini and the Von Trapps Debut Video for "Dream A Little Dream"

Portland's little orchestra and The Sound Of Music namesakes share a whimsical tortoise love story filmed in the Gardens of Sampson and Beasley.

By Matthew Schonfeld October 29, 2014

In the 83 years since "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" was first recorded, endless renditions have surfaced, from the Mamas and the Papas to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.

Portland's pocket-sized orchestra Pink Martini were added to that  list back in March when they released their seventh studio album, Dream A Little Dream, with some help from the von Trapp family. That is Sofia, Melanie, Amanda, and August von Trapp, the now Portland-based descendents of Captain and Maria von Trapp, the tunefully inclined family behind The Sound Of Music

The Thomas Lauderdale-led collective just deputed a music video for the age-old track on Entertainment Weekly. Produced by Portlandia's David Cress and long-time Lauderdale-friend Tanya Selvaratnam, directed by Melanie von Trapp and Alex Marashian (who produced the band's album Splendor in the Grass), and filmed by longtime Gus Van Sant collaborator Eric Edwards (read about him and the interconnected Portland film community), the video features a sunny, surrealist journey through the legendary Gardens of Sampson and Beasley (remember them from Hang On Little Tomato?) from the point of view of two large tortoises in love. 

In other Pink Martini news, the band has released a 7-inch vinyl single through a neat new site from the folks at local record label/store Tender Loving Empire. It's called Generous, and it's a name-your-price music platform, with different prices corresponding to different packages (kind of like Kickstarter, but with projects that are already finished). The Pink Martini single features "Zundoko-bushi," from Pink Martini's 2013 record Get Happy, as well as "Foxy Strut," a brass-infused instrumental inspired by China Forbes' dog Foxy. Along with the songs you can buy new Pink Martini shirts and signed copies of Get Happy, and the proceeds go to charity.

Check the video out below and listen to Pink Martini and the von Trapps' Dream A Little Dream album here. 

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