Twelve-piece lounge ensemble Pink Martini [ tickets ] has lined up late-spring/early summer tour plans that include a pair of hometown dates during which the group will record its first live album.

The Portland, OR-based outfit kicks off the run May 15 and 16 in San Antonio, TX, supplemented by the San Antonio Symphony. Two weeks later, the group returns to Portland's Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall for a pair of live recording sessions with the Oregon Symphony.

The tour expands across the country in June, with the 17-city trek including stops in Boston, (6/12), New York City (6/18) and a pair of performances in San Francisco toward the end of the month (6/25-26). Details are included below.

The self-described "little orchestra" continues to support its third album, 2007's "Hey Eugene!" The set features 12 tracks sung in the group's typical polyglot style, with lyrics in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese, as well as the outfit's first Arabic-language track. The title cut can be heard at Pink Martini's MySpace page.

Pink Martini was founded in 1994 by classically trained pianist Thomas Lauderdale. A year later, the Harvard grad recruited his classmate, vocalist China Forbes, and the ensemble eventually grew from a quintet to a 12-piece.

The group made its orchestral debut with the Oregon Symphony in 1998 and has since performed its diverse repertoire with symphony orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, Canada and the US, according to its website.