Simon Jeffes
{{Short description|British musician and composer (1949–1997)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Simon Jeffes
| image = Simon Jeffes (1a).jpg
| birth_name = Simon Harry Piers Jeffes
| birth_date = 19 February 1949
| birth_place = Crawley, Sussex, England
| death_date = 11 December 1997 (aged 48)
| death_place = Taunton, Somerset, England
| occupation = Musician
| known_for = Founder of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra
}}
Simon Harry Piers Jeffes (19 February 1949 – 11 December 1997) was an English classically trained guitarist, composer and arranger. He formed, and was the primary performer of, the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. He was the composer of the ballet Still Life at the Penguin Cafe, of the much-recorded piece Music For A Found Harmonium, and other music recorded by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra.
He is also known for assisting Sex Pistols producer Bill Price with the string arrangement for the Sid Vicious version of "My Way" which reached #7 on the UK singles charts as part of The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle soundtrack.{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-simon-jeffes-1289435.html|title=Obituary: Simon Jeffes|date=1997-12-18|website=The Independent|access-date=2019-10-28}}
A recording of piano works by Jeffes, "Piano Music", was released by Zopf Records in 1998.{{Cite web|url=http://www.piccadillyrecords.com/prod/SimonJeffes-PianoMusic-ZopfLtd-118725.html|title=Picadilly Records Remastered Release|website=Picadilly Records}}
Life and death
Jeffes was born at the Montalan Nursing Home, Crawley, Sussex, on 19 February 1949, the son of James Henry Elliston Jeffes, a research chemist, and his wife, Anne Hope Madeline Jeffes (née Clutterbuck).{{cite ODNB|title=Jeffes, Simon Harry Piers|url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/68826|year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/68826 |accessdate=28 November 2014 |last1=MacLaine |first1=Dominic }}
Jeffes is the father of Arthur Jeffes, who is continuing his father's musical work with Penguin Cafe.
Jeffes died of an inoperable brain tumor on 11 December 1997 in Taunton, leading to the dissolution of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra.{{cite web|last1=Sandall|first1=Robert|title=Simon Jeffes|url=https://www.penguincafe.com/original/simon.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180428003236/https://www.penguincafe.com/original/simon.htm|archive-date=28 April 2018|url-status=dead}}
References
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External links
- [http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/68826 Simon Jeffes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205063610/http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/68826 |date=5 December 2014 }} at the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- [http://www.penguincafe.com/original/simon.htm Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508163135/http://penguincafe.com/original/simon.htm |date=8 May 2013 }} at Penguin Cafe Orchestra website
- [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-simon-jeffes-1289435.html Obituary] at The Independent
{{Penguin Cafe Orchestra}}
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Category:20th-century British classical musicians
Category:20th-century English composers
Category:British ballet composers
Category:Deaths from brain cancer in England
Category:Neurological disease deaths in England
Category:English classical guitarists
Category:English male guitarists
Category:English rock guitarists
Category:20th-century British guitarists
Category:20th-century British male musicians
Category:Penguin Cafe Orchestra members
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