Somewhere between a 1930s Cuban dance orchestra, a classical chamber music ensemble, a Brazilian marching street band and Japanese film noir is the 12-piece Pink Martini. Tonight they play their only London show of 2011 accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Part language lesson, part Hollywood musical, the Portland, Oregon-based 'little orchestra' was created in 1994 by Harvard graduate and classically trained pianist Thomas M. Lauderdale, and vocalist China Forbes. Equally at home performing its romantic, multi-lingual repertoire on concert stages and in smoky bars, Pink Martini draws a wildly diverse crowd.