Formed in England in 1973, the Penguin Café Orchestra was an avant-garde band founded by multi-instrumentalist Simon Jeffes (born in Crawley, Sussex, England on February 19, 1949) and cellist Helen Liebmann. The ensemble’s eclectic repertoire touched on many musical styles including pop, jazz, folk, and chamber music mixed with a touch of minimalism. Although Simon Jeffes was predominantly known as a guitarist, he also studied music theory and piano before forming Penguin Café Orchestra. The group’s line-up changed over the years, but several members went on to forge careers of their own including Nigel Kennedy (violin), Steve Nye (piano), Geoffrey Richardson (viola), Annie Whitehead (trombone), Trevor Morais (drums), and many others. The group signed to Brian Eno’s Obscure Records label and issued their first album, Music from the Penguin Café, in 1976. Recorded over the next four years, their sophomore album, Penguin Café Orchestra, in 1981. They became a popular live act and released The Penguin Café Orchestra Mini Album in 1983. Their next two studio releases - Broadcasting from Home (1984) and Signs of Life (1987) – were followed by the live recording When in Rome… (1988). They followed those releases with their final studio album, Union Café (1993), and another live set, Concert Program (1995). In 1996, they released their first compilation entitled Preludes, Airs & Yodels (A Penguin Café Primer). Simon Jeffes died of a brain tumor on December 12, 1997, at the age of 48. The group split up after Jeffes’ death although some of the members later performed under the name The Anteaters before settling on the group name The Orchestra That Fell To Earth. Simon Jeffes’ son Arthur Jeffes formed an entirely new version of the group called Penguin Café.
