The Penguin Cafe
The Penguin Cafe

Thursday 26th May 2011

19:30

Perth Concert Hall

Tickets will be available on the door on the night.

Penguin Cafe’s music has infiltrated daily life from

films like Napoleon Dynamite to countless theme

tunes, and they’ve played festivals from Bestival and

The Big Chill to the Royal Albert Hall as part of the

BBC Proms. Their sound is at once familiar and new,

combining acoustic power and a beguiling, feisty

charm. They present a specially created evening of

music featuring a unique mixture of well-known

works alongside pieces created exclusively for their

debut. Their music is beautiful, humorous and unique

.To others, its musical style can be loosely defined as

a blend of chamber music, ambient and folk with

strong harmonic elements. Lots of strings, piano,

harmonium, bass, cuatro and ukuleles are the main

instruments.

 

The group began life in 1972 after Simon Jeffes

became disillusioned with the rigidities of classical

music and the limitations of rock. In 2009, twelve

years after Simon died; his son Arthur brought

together a fresh group of musicians, ranging from

luminaries from The Royal College of Music to

members of bands such as Suede and Gorillaz to

perform his father’s music, together with new compositions of

his own. The Penguin Cafe Orchestra's most famous piece

may be Telephone and Rubber Band, which is based around a

tape loop of a UK telephone ringing tone intersected with an

engaged tone, accompanied by the twanging of a rubber

band. Another famous tune is Music for a Found Harmonium,

which Jeffes wrote on a harmonium that he had found

dumped in a back street in Kyoto.

 

 

Penguin Cafe continues to occupy a unique place in music:

 

 

nothing else has ever sounded quite like it. Eccentric,

 

 

charming, accommodating, surprising, seductive, warm,

 

reliable, modest and unforgettable: it's a true friend. Brian Eno

 

 

Jeffes’ son, Arthur, is reviving the music and

 

 

adding a little of his own with a nine-piece

 

 

band featuring the unique mix of ukuleles,

 

 

strings, percussion, electric bass and

 

 

piano…….and the unlikely blend of African

 

 

rhythm, folk fiddle and classical cadences

 

 

works its whimsical magic....Their brand of

 

gentle revelry will go down just fine. The Times

 

Sponsored by Frames Gallery

 

Penguin Cafe website