Ambiance

by Alex HendersonInfluenced by the modal jazz of John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Ambiance was an excellent but little known post-bop group that was active in Los Angeles in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Ambiance reflected the spiritual outlook of its founder and leader Daoud Abubakar Balewa, a saxophonist/flutist who also played African and Latin percussion and was heavily influenced by world music. Other members of the group included singer Monife Balewa, percussionist/singer Atiji Malomon, pianist Kimo Cornwell, keyboardist/composer Danny Newmark, bassist Randy Landis and guitarist Jim Lum, among others. Ambiance recorded several LPs for Daoud Abubakar Balewa's Da-Mon label in the late 1970s and early 1980s--including Ebun, Drift Up to Space, Tight and Tidy and Into A New Journey--before breaking up.