User:Wilfwolf24/sandbox

Arnie Somogyi (7th December 1965) is an English bassist and composer. He currently lives in Leighton Buzzard and was born in Birmingham, he works frequently at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club as a member of the club's house band, the Ronnie Scott’s All-Stars.

Life and Career:
Arnie Somogyi (Arnold Somogyi) was born in Birmingham in 1965, into a family of Hungarian Jewish descent on his father's side and English descent on his mother's side. Somogyi grew up in Duston, Northampton next to his father's dental practice. He expressed an interest in music from a young age and, at the age of 14, formed a quartet in which he played the bass guitar. Arnie Somogyi was awarded a degree in English from the University of Bristol in 1988 at the age of 23. Whilst at university he moved on to play double bass with Portihead's Adrian Utley before moving to London to play with acid jazz legend Tommy Chase. In 1990 he won a scholarship to The Guildhall of Music in London to study a postgraduate jazz course

Now based in Leighton Buzzard Arnie is a sought after musician, composer, bandleader and lecturer. He has played and recorded with musical legends such as Tom Jones, Amy Whinehouse and Charlie Watts as well as John Dankworth, Stan Tracey, Steve Grossman, James Moody, Bobby Hutcherson, Annie Ross, Clare Martin, Art Farmer, Joey Calderazzo and Bud Shank. He has also featured on albums with Eric Alexander, Eddie Henderson, Omar and The Verve's Richard Ashcroft. Somogyi has also appeared in film soundtracks from The Talented Mr. Ripley and Oscar-nominated An Education (2009). He has presented three BBC radio 4 documentaries about eastern Europe and has recorded international music features for BBC Radio.

Arnie Somogyi now works as a lecturer as the Birmingham Conservatoire and is a partner in Voodookazoo, a music production duo who have worked for a number of large companies. His first album as leader and composer in 2000, 'Cold Cherry Soup',was received with widespread critical acclaim and chosen as BBC Music Magazine's Jazz Pick of the Month. He also created and led the acclaimed Hungary Jazz Festival in Soho in May 2002, starring some of the UK's and Hungary's finest jazz artists. Arnie was also the motivating force behind IMPROVOKATION, a ground-breaking Anglo-Hungarian 10-piece ensemble of leading jazz and folk musicians. The debut tour in 2004, backed by Arts Council East, included Cheltenham International Jazz Festival, Appleby Jazz Festival & Ronnie Scott’s.

Ambulance is his latest project as band leader and is a highly original five-piece band launched at Ronnie Scott’s in 2005, which was chosen for the first ever jazz residency at the prestigious Snape Maltings in Aldeburgh in Spring 2006 where they created an entirely original set of new material. The band’s subsequent performances at Ronnie Scott’s in September 2006 with legendary guest trumpeter Eddie Henderson won extensive plaudits across the national press. The following CD, ‘Accident and Insurgency’, was released on Linn Records in January 2008, and supported by another UK tour, again as a sextet with Eddie Henderson, including the Southport Jazz Festival and a headline slot at Ronnie Scott’s with further appearances later that year at Cheltenham, Brecon and Glasgow International Jazz FestivalsThe tour and CD attracted significant critical acclaim, including 5-star reviews in The Guardian, The Times, BBC Music Magazine, Jazzwise and The Scotsman; and was featured Gig of the Week and Critic's Choice in Time Out. The band was cover feature in Jazz UK and Jazzwise magazines and nominated for Ensemble of the Year at the 2008 Parliamentary Jazz Awards.The CD was nominated as BBC Jazz CD of the Year 2008.

His latest release 'The Man Who Never Sleeps' is a CD featuring the music of Charles Mingus and features musicians Alan Barnes, Mark Edwards, Toni Kofi, Jeremy Price and Clark Tracey.