Ambiance

Ambiance stood out as an excellent yet obscure post-bop collective active in Los Angeles during the late 1970s and early 1980s, shaped by the modal jazz of John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Its founder and leader, Daoud Abubakar Balewa—a saxophonist and flutist who also handled African and Latin percussion—infused the ensemble with a spiritual outlook while drawing heavily on world music traditions. The lineup featured singer Monife Balewa, percussionist and singer Atiji Malomon, pianist Kimo Cornwell, keyboardist and composer Danny Newmark, bassist Randy Landis, guitarist Jim Lum, and others. On Daoud Abubakar Balewa’s own Da-Mon label, Ambiance released several LPs in the late 1970s and early 1980s, among them Ebun, Drift Up to Space, Tight and Tidy, and Into A New Journey, before disbanding.