Arthur William Phoenix Young Jeffes (born 21 July 1978,

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

, London, England) is an English composer, musician, and arctic explorer. He is the frontman of the musical group

Penguin Cafe Penguin Cafe is a band originally conceived by Arthur Jeffes, son of Simon Jeffes and Emily Young, as a continuation of his father's project, the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. The group is distinct from the original Penguin Cafe Orchestra, despite ...

, a group he formed in 2007 to play the music of his father's band, the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. He is one half of the band Sundog.

Early life

Jeffes was born in London to the artist

Emily Young Emily Young FRBS (born 1951) is a sculptor, who has been called "Britain's greatest living stone sculptor". She was born in London into a family of artists, writers and politicians. She currently divides her time between studios in London and I ...

and musician and composer, Simon Jeffes. Jeffes's interest in experimental music was recognised by his father when he took a hammer to the keys of his father's piano. While both of his parents nurtured his musicality he was encouraged to base any career on a strong academic background. He read Archaeology and Anthropology at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

Penguin Cafe

In 2007, original members of Penguin Cafe Orchestra performed a series of three memorial concerts, with Arthur Jeffes performing onstage with the band for the first time, to mark ten years since Simon Jeffes' death. Encouraged by the public response to the Union Chapel concerts, which all sold out, Jeffes decided that keeping his father's music alive was a worthwhile endeavour. He founded a new band, Penguin Cafe, with a new line-up, including

Cass Browne Cass Browne (born 27 September 1971 in Wimbledon, Surrey) is an English musician and writer. He was a member of the band The Psychotics who became Senseless Things in 1986. Senseless Things made four studio albums, achieved two UK Top 20 ...

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (character), 2-D (Singing, vocals, Musical keyboard, keyboards), Murd ...

Neil Codling Neil John Codling (born 5 December 1973) is an English musician and songwriter, best known as the keyboardist, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and co-songwriter for the alternative rock band Suede. Early life Neil Codling was raised in St ...

Suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, fabrics, purses, furniture, and other items. The term comes from the French , which literally means "gloves from Sweden". The term was fir ...

, Oli Langford of

Florence and the Machine Florence and the Machine (stylised as Florence + the Machine) are an English indie rock band that formed in London in 2007, consisting of lead vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, harpist Tom Monger, an ...

and

Darren Berry Darren Shane Berry (born 10 December 1969) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who was known for his sharp skills as a wicketkeeper, first with South Australia and then Victoria in the Sheffield Shield and ING Cup domestic com ...

of Razorlight. Penguin Cafe have performed on stage playing works of Simon Jeffes and their own pieces.

International Space Orchestra

In 2012, Jeffes was commissioned by the artist Nelly Ben-Hayoun to write several pieces for the NASA ''

Kepler Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws of ...

'' mission, to be played by the International Space Orchestra. The pieces "1420" and "Aurora" were beamed into space in 2013. "1420" was inspired by the WOW! signal.

Other work

Jeffes has also formed recording duos with violinist Oli Langford as Sundog, and with pianist

Mark Springer Mark Springer is a British pianist and composer. Springer first came to public attention in the group Rip Rig and Panic. This group also featured the singer Neneh Cherry, Sean Oliver, Gareth Sager, and Bruce Smith. During his time with the group ...

as Aparat.

Discography

;Penguin Cafe * '' A Matter of Life...'' (2011) * ''The Red Book'' (2014) * ''The Imperfect Sea'' (2017) * ''Handfuls of Nights'' (2019) ;Sundog * ''Insofar'' (2012) ;Aparat * ''Aparat'' (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffes, Arthur 1978 births Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English folk musicians English jazz musicians English male composers Living people Musicians from London Penguin Cafe members