Ambergris is a grease-like substance of the sperm whale's digestive tract that is used in the finest perfumes. Ambergris was chosen as this quartet's name as a metaphor of the product of the creative process of an artist, who draws from a stock of experiences and emotions, collected throughout life, and create beauty out of it. The compositions performed by the band are a result of that process, they are ambergris themselves, a chaotic mass of stories, digested and reshaped into music. The band members have forged their special artistic and human bond through their long-lasting experience together in several bands active in the Dutch music scene. Their music is a colourful set of original songs made of non-conventional forms, elaborate harmonies often coming from the classical music world, heart-breaking melodies that draw inspiration from Italian popular music – all performed by a revisited version of the most traditional type of ensemble in jazz, a saxophone quartet.