Penguin cafe Orchestra
bill
(can't find it right now. . .) . also, found an LP on ebay called "Penguin
Cafe Orchestra" recorded back in '81. There actually was a cafe in those
days.
What happened to Simon Jeffes and the creative people around him?
thanks
bill
Gerry Rondot
http://www.dioxine.com/disco/pco/obituary.html
A search at Yahoo on "Simon Jeffes" should yield more info.
"bill" <BG...@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:90esel$2ksu$1...@newssvr06-en0.news.prodigy.com...
Robert Carlberg
a poorer place for Jeffes' passing -- although I heard that another album was
almost finished and might be forthcoming?
Anyway, the existing oeuvre is:
"Music from the Penguin Cafe" (1976)
"Penguin Cafe Orchestra" (1981)
"The PCO Mini-Album" (1983)
"Broadcasting From Home" (1984)
"Signs of Life" (1987)
"When In Rome..." (1988) (live in London, go figure)
"Union Cafe" (1993)
"Concert Program" (1994) (live in Somerset UK)
All have been issued on CD except the mini-album, which includes "Penguin Cafe
Single" and "Air A Danser" from album 2, two live tracks recorded June 1982 in
Tokyo, a piano solo studio-recorded at the same time, and a 1983 track "The
Toy" which is otherwise unavailable.
Robert Carlberg
"'Still Life' at the Penguin Cafe" (1989) a video of the ballet performed by
the Royal Ballet with music performed by the orchestra of the Royal Opera
House, Covent Garden.
Does anybody on this newsgroup have this? Is the orchestra playing PCO tunes
which are familiar, or unique to this set?
I also see from my notes that Jeffes passed away December 11, 1987 of a brain
tumour -- almost exactly 3 years ago. He was 48.
EarlGrey4T
Annie Whitehead has her own band, has played in the Penguin
Café Orchestra and has been dubbed the first lady of British Jazz. Naked
was Annie's first studio album and this was issued by FCZ and received
stunning reviews at the time. Due to the record company disappearing Naked
was lost until now. This brilliant album has been re-issued with stunning
new deluxe full colour artwork. There is a huge surge in Annie's profile
due to her touring with both Soupsongs (Robert Wyatt project) and her own
band. She has also just released a new solo record The Gathering on the
Provocateur label.
Information available under "voiceprint" at: http://www.artist-shop.com
badfinger
"Robert Carlberg" <rcar...@aol.communicate> wrote in message
news:20001204001109...@ng-ba1.aol.com...
> Oops, I forgot the video I don't have:
> "'Still Life' at the Penguin Cafe" (1989) a video of the ballet performed
by
> the Royal Ballet with music performed by the orchestra of the Royal Opera
> House, Covent Garden
The South Bank Show also did a video profile of Simon and the Penguin Cafe
Orchestra back in the mid 90s I believe. It's sometimes rebroadcast on the
BRAVO network.
Take care.
- Loren Nerell
Forrest Fang
PCO) called "Viola Mon Amour." A very nice album. Several of the
pieces are in a PCO vein, and Neil Rennie (PCO) even plays on 2
tracks.
Long live the PCO!
Forrest
On Mon, 04 Dec 2000 22:21:19 -0800, EarlGrey4T
<earlg...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>Item in an Artist Shop newsletter: Annie Whitehead/Naked ....import CD
>Annie Whitehead has her own band, has played in the Penguin
>Café Orchestra
<snip>
synthuser
OT - I picked up the Badfinger DVD... wow.
I always liked them, but never knew all the "stuff"
behind the music and the band.
J. Osborne
Orchestra in a performance in El Paso, Texas. A local citizen was
related to one of the musicians, the cellist I believe. I've forgotten
her name but the arts agency I worked for at the time came to know PCO
through a CD she sent to us ("When in Rome"). The group was heading to
Houston, Texas for a festival and we booked an "add-on" concert, flying
the group to El Paso after their Houston performance.
It was a tremendous amount of work to accomplish, but the PCO's
performance was magical. The set was virtually identical to that heard
on "When in Rome" and it was greeted almost identically. (Listen to the
audience on WIR politely clapping after the first few numbers, then
compare that to the roaring ovation toward the end.)
The musicians were a joy to host and they couldn't have been happier to
be playing for us. In particular, Simon was quite engaging. He appeared
on a few local radio shows and proved to be an amusing interview.
Watching the group perform gave one a sense of not only their
musicianship, but also the creativity of Jeffes. He paired remarkable
instruments in unlikely combinations; the cello and viola pairing in
"Southern Jukebox Music" pops to mind and it was incredible to watch.
For those interested, the instrument heard in "Cutting Branches for a
Temporary Shelter" was a little keyboarded instrument powered by air.
Simon sat on a chair and blew into a tube while playing on this small
keyboard for that tune. Remarkable. That tune, by the way, came from an
African folk melody. The contract rider for the performance specified an
unusual array of instruments. The hardest one to locate was a harmonium.
We never did find one, but we found a synthesizer with a harmonium
sampling and Simon graciously agreed that it would suffice.
"When In Rome" is widely found in record shops. My autographed copy is a
prized possession, even though the signatures are smudged (the ink didn't
hold well on the glossy stock!). I was given copies of several other PCO
CDs but, unfortunately, they were stolen when my house was burgled some
years ago.
I was quite saddened to hear of Simon's untimely passing. There will
never again be another group quite like the Penguin Cafe Orchestra.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
bill
anecdote.
I learned about the group while browsing through a used cd store in
pasadena. i took a chance and have been delighted!
J. Osborne wrote in message <90rjrk$6ni$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...