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The Penguin Cafe Orchestra (PCO) was a collective of performing musicians founded by classically-trained English guitarist, composer and arranger Simon Jeffes. He and cellist co-founder Helen Liebmann were core members throughout the group's life. As the group grew and developed, a number of other musicians joined it, many of whom appear on the PCO's six studio and two live albums. The PCO toured extensively during the 1980s and 1990s, and two albums, ''When in Rome...'' (1988) and ''Concert Program'' (1995) captured the sound of the live ensemble. The Penguin's sound is not easily categorized, but has elements of exuberant folk music and a minimalist aesthetic occasionally reminiscent of composers such as Philip Glass. The Penguin Cafe Orchestra recorded and performed for 24 years until Jeffes died of an inoperable brain tumour in 1997. Several remaining members of the original group reunited for three concerts in 2007. Since then, five original members have continued to play concerts of PCO's music, initially as The Anteaters and more recently under the name The Orchestra That Fell to Earth. In 2009 Simon Jeffes' son Arthur founded a distinct successor band called simply Penguin Cafe. Although it includes no original PCO members, it features many PCO pieces in its live repertoire, and records and performs new music written by the younger Jeffes. ==History== After becoming disillusioned with the rigid structures of classical music and the limitations of rock, in which he also dabbled, Simon Jeffes became interested in the relative freedom in ethnic music and decided to imbue his work with the same sense of immediacy and spirit. Describing how the idea of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra came to him, Jeffes said: The group's debut album, ''Music from the Penguin Cafe'', a collection of pieces recorded in 1974–76, was released in 1976 on Brian Eno's experimental Obscure Records label, an offshoot of the EG label. It was followed in 1981 by ''Penguin Cafe Orchestra'', after which the band settled into a more regular release schedule. The band played its first major concert on October 10, 1976, supporting Kraftwerk at The Roundhouse. They went on to tour the world and play at a variety of music festivals as well as residencies on the South Bank in London. From 1976–1996 they played in the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, and throughout Europe and the UK. In March, 1987 they were the subject of an episode of the ITV arts series ''The South Bank Show'',〔(epguides.com - ''The South Bank Show'' )〕 on which they performed "Air", "Bean Fields", "Dirt" and "Giles Farnaby's Dream".〔(locatetv.com - ''The South Bank Show'' )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Penguin Cafe Orchestra」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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