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But before we get onto that, Mr. Somogyi’s reputation as a bass player has caught the attention of many and he has a fan base both sides of the Atlantic. The band had recently appeared at Ronnie Scott gigs with trumpet virtuoso Eddie Henderson. I suggested that it must have been hard to get Henderson over here, not really” he said “I just phoned him up and he said he’d love to.” Henderson is now 65 but started out with an early lesson from Louis Armstrong and as a teenager told Miles Davis that he didn’t play right!

Back to Ambulance, they were the first group to have a residency at the Snape Maltings in Aldeburgh (more famous for the Aldeburgh Festival) which led to some intense writing and performing such as ‘Captain Courageous’ with an introduction of sampled stone crunching of walking up the beach.

The experience must have helped form the band feeling as Arnie is not the most in your face bandleader and that certainly comes over on the CD. That said, he cuts a funky bass solo on his joint composition with Wayne Shorter on ‘Thumb Screw / Tom Thumb’.

And what about that weird stuff? I think there’s room for some more laptop and electronic effects as they are essentially a modern acoustic jazz group. ‘Loose Connection’ by Lapthorn is definitely in the Headhunters’ area. Not as club as you’d find at Shiftless Shuffle but their live set includes a version of Herbie Hancock’s ‘One Finger Snap’.

‘Forgotten’ was written by Booth as he leads out with a solo before the pace picks up on the straight jazzer. There’s a bit of a head to head between Lapthorn and Booth while Somogyi and Smith are ever busy.

Arnie Somogyi’s Ambulance have moved on since they first appeared at Ronnie Scott’s in its pre-refurbished state in 2004 and continue to get rave reviews. They are somewhere between Acoustic Ladyland and Acoustic Triangle. Perhaps they should be recalled Acoustic Ambulance? Definitely worthy originals.

Reviewed: Arnie Somogyi’s Ambulence — Worthless Originals (Forged Records) Cat. No. FROCD 103 Recorded at Red Gables Studio, London
Arnie Somogyi (Bass)
Paul Booth (Saxophone)
Tim Lapthorn (Piano)
Dave Smith (Drums)

Tracklisting:
1. Loose Connection (9:43) Written by Tim Lapthorn
2. Thumb Screw /Tom Thumb (10:13) Written by Arnie Somogyi / Wayne Shorter
3. Roses (11:25) Written by Arnie Somogyi
4. Forgotten (10:39) Written by Paul Booth

Links:
www.forgedrecords.com
www.ronniescotts.co.uk Arnie Somogyi’s Ambulence Ronnie Scott’s 18-20 Sept: with James Person Trio and Natalie Williams & Alex Garnett.
bournemouthjazz.org
www.centrestage.uk.com
www.jazzcds.co.uk
Aldeburgh Festival