PENGUIN CAFE – RESIDENT, BRIGHTON 9.7.23
In 1972, a man by the name of Simon Jeffes fell ill with food poisoning after eating bad fish in the south of France. During this illness, he began to experience wild visions and vivid fever dreams of dystopian concrete blocks, complete with dehumanised social beings, from people staring back at themselves through mirrors, composers engulfed in headphones within their own silent room, or a couple making love, albeit passionless and cold. These dreams culminated in a poem which commenced with the line, “I am the proprietor of the Penguin Cafe”. This was a body of consciousness where you can exist in your own plane, with no fear or unacceptance from fellow beings.
Soon after, Simon formed the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, a collective of rotating musicians from various musical backgrounds and instrumental teachings from percussionists and string players to ukulele ensembles, pianos and reeds, within the sounds of multicultural forms of folk and avant-pop music, as well as minimalism and modern classical orchestrations. The Orchestra saw 33 individual members in its 25-year run as well as select pieces finding pride of place in numerous TV, film, art pieces and song samples including, but not limited to, ‘Music For A Found Harmonium’, ‘Perpetuum Mobile’, and ‘Telephone And Rubber Band’.
Unfortunately, in 1997, Simon Jeffes passed away as a result of an inoperable brain tumour leading to the end of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. However, twelve years later, Simon’s son Arthur rejuvenated the Orchestra’s consciousness by forming the homage-paying Penguin Cafe. The distinctions between Penguin Cafe and its paternal Orchestra are few in number; there still remains a large ensemble of instrumentalists and performers from different backgrounds, and many PCO pieces are performed live in their shows, but Penguin Cafe’s sound in this incarnation exercises a larger focus on chamber music and more reserved forms of modern classical music, something that became more conscious by PCO’s final studio album ‘Union Cafe’ in 1993. Since 2011, they have created five individual albums, the most recent of which, ‘Rain Before Seven’, was released last Friday.
On Sunday, Arthur Jeffes and two extra members of the Penguin Cafe (Andy Waterworth on double bass and Avvon Chambers on percussion), performed the second of two in-store performances, the first being at London’s Rough Trade East on Thursday. After enjoying many fruitful discussions about PCO, Kraftwerk and jazz with a gentleman in front of me in the queue, I eventually made my way into Brighton’s Resident Music (one of my favourite record shops, full stop), and placed myself as far into the front as I could, right in front of Avvon’s percussion kit, which was awash with cymbals and perfectly-placed drums. Before long, Arthur welcomed himself to the audience: “We are the Penguin Cafe rhythm section today… we’re going to play the vast majority of the new album for you.”
The intimate performance started with the opening track from ‘Rain Before Seven’, entitled ‘Welcome To London’. This song made use of a wonderful 5/4 rhythm, on top of which Arthur weaves a tight piano chord progression and Andy accenting this rhythm with his double bass. The performance had a great dynamic balance and wonderful musicianship, considering none of them are making eye contact here; they’re all locked in their own individual grooves. The trio waste no time in progressing to the next track, ‘Temporary Shelter From The Storm’, a track that consists of a subtle build-up with simple percussion and a steady melody from Arthur on the piano that doesn’t seem to break for the entire performance. ‘In Re Budd’, dedicated to the memory of legendary musician Harold Budd, feels a lot more playful compared to the previous two cuts, with a jovial piano progression and a more percussive backbone composed of shakers and a swing rhythm. This track also gave Avvon and Andy a slight bit of space to improvise around Arthur’s piano before reaching a beautiful climax.
Before heading into ‘Second Variety’, Arthur jokingly states that “we may have practised STARTING some of these pieces…”. ‘Second Variety’ is a distinct change in mood from the rest of the set with a solemn piano introduction and a loose percussion arrangement complete with flourishes on Avvon’s ride cymbal. One thing struck me during this track, was just the variety in age group among the audience; the Penguin Cafe has proven to be quite a universal body of music to a universal body of people, something that Simon would be proud having still been around to see its continuing appeal. The following Galahad makes use of some of the Penguin Cafe’s more minimalism-driven influences with a 7/8 piano phrase from Arthur, while Andy and Avvon continue in 4/4, making a distinctive rhythmic phase, a technique of composition that musicians such as Steve Reich were famous for.
Just as Arthur announces the next song, ‘Might Be Something’, an audience member yells out, “Ah, side B!”, to which Andy replies, “we’re giving you time to turn over the record now…”. A more low-key moment in the set here, the piece features a compositional staple of Penguin Cafe (and Orchestra)’s music, a static melody in place, this time on the piano, leaving all other instrumentalists to form their way around it (see other PCO tracks like ‘White Mischief’, ‘Perpetuum Mobile’ and ‘Telephone And Rubber Band’ as examples). A particular highpoint of the setlist was the next cut, ‘Find Your Feet’; it’s easy to remark on how Arthur is able to transmute bossa nova rhythms into ecstatic and bittersweet folk music. The trio close out their short set with the closing track on ‘Rain Before Seven’, and possibly the happiest track here, ‘Goldfinch Yodel’ (Yodels being a recurring theme in PCO and PC music). The piece feels akin to some of the jolly folk arrangements that appeared on Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s 1981 self-titled album, and here, the section changes and key changes are wonderful to witness live, as well as clear interplay and musicianship between the three members. After a wonderful ending, the Resident Music shop is amplified with applause from the audience as Arthur says a final farewell and thanks before packing down.
I’ve not even been a follower of Penguin Cafe and its parental Orchestra for longer than seven months, but in that short time, I can consider myself a devout superfan and continuing admirer of their work; and with a Brighton Dome show placed among a 10-date tour between November and December, you can be certain that I’ll be there, imbibing myself in the luxury and utopia of the Penguin Cafe. Purchase your tickets HERE.
Penguin Cafe setlist:
‘Welcome To London’
‘Temporary Shelter From The Storm’
‘In Re Budd’
‘Second Variety’
‘Galahad’
‘Might Be Something’
‘Find Your Feet’
‘Goldfinch Yodel’
