A SECOND ROUND FOR PINK MARTINI.

Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer

Thomas Lauderdale, who plays piano and is the guiding force for Pink Martini, was thumbing through a 1964 issue of Life magazine when an ad for Hunt's ketchup caught his eye.

It shows a plump tomato dangling on a vine, while a new glass bottle stands by, ready to be filled. The illustrations are peppered with phrases like ``keep growing,'' ``get picked'' and ``bubble in Hunt's seven spices.''

As Lauderdale sees it, this ad has a ``sinister edge'' to it.

``The tomato is ultimately going to ripen and then it's going to be killed,'' he says.

And yet, Lauderdale was so taken by the ad that it inspired the song ``Hang on Little Tomato.''

It's the title track to the latest release by Pink Martini, the eclectic 15-member pop ensemble that returns to Disney Hall for its second consecutive New Year's Eve.

Last year, the band sold out on the strength of its 1997 debut album, ``Sympathique,'' and its charming mix of French bistro music, rumbas and retro pop.

The new album is just as likable, thanks to jazzy, laid-back, clarinet- driven toe-tappers like ``Hang on Little Tomato.''

This veggie tale is no downer.

``We took the more optimistic approach,'' says Lauderdale, who collaborated on the song with vocalist China Forbes and a painter friend who lived downstairs at the time.

Bringing first-time songwriters - like his friend Patrick Abbey - into the mix is how most songs on ``Hang on Little Tomato'' were penned.

According to Lauderdale, it eased the pressure of knowing he had to outdo ``Sympathique,'' an album the New Yorker called ``breathtaking.''

It also got him thinking creatively, which is something that Pink Martini was born out of.

Lauderdale, a Harvard literature graduate and classically trained pianist, formed Pink Martini in 1994 for the sole purpose of playing political fund-raisers.

The band made money for a number of progressive causes before making its European debut during the Cannes Film Festival.

``Basically, we paid our own way,'' says Lauderdale, and out of it came a deal with a European label.

But back home, Pink Martini records on its own Heinz Records, named after Lauderdale's pet dog.

You can see a portrait of Heinz behind the CD for ``Hang on Little Tomato.''

He's got his paw on the Hunt's ketchup ad.

Sandra Barrera, [phone]

sandra.barrera(at)dailynews.com

PINK MARTINI

Where: Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.

When: 7 p.m. Friday.

Tickets: $50 to $125. Call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) From Pink Martini to Killer rock shows, L.A.'s glass of New Year's Eve fun is filled to the brim 

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

(2) Pink Martini returns to Disney Hall for its second consecutive New Year's Eve performance.