Switzerland’s High Jazz Records once again comes through with a tasty slice and essential LP that should definitely be considered for heavy rotation in your selections. The latest release from Ambiance reintroduces their debut private press LP “Ebun” to the public licensed and remastered with original artwork. Heavy spiritual jazz-funk / fusion led by saxophonist Daoud Abubakar Balewa who studied formal classical music and received instruction from Frank Mitchell (Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers) and Jackie McLean (Blue Note records), Ambiance incorporates Brazilian and Latin flavours with a righteous and soulful Afrocentric jazz edge.
“Influenced 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/clarinettist who also played African and Latin percussion and was heavily influenced by world music.”