Scott Antel Ambush was born April 28, 1970, in Frederick, Maryland, the son of a gospel singer whose house was filled with the music of Mahalia Jackson, James Cleveland, Andraé Crouch, and the Mighty Clouds of Joy. He played in his high school jazz ensemble and worked through rock, funk, R&B, straight-ahead jazz, and fusion bands as a teenager before enrolling at the University of Maryland at College Park to study psychology.

While in school, Ambush was working Washington, D.C.'s club scene by night, landing regular gigs behind Stanley Turrentine, along with Special EFX, Noel Pointer, and Lonnie Liston Smith. Word of mouth from those gigs got him recommended for the open bass chair in Spyro Gyra; he auditioned, won the spot, and made his studio debut with the band on 1992's Three Wishes, replacing Oscar Cartaya. He has held the chair ever since, more than three decades and counting, longer than every member of the band except founder Jay Beckenstein. The band's own story is told in full in Spyro Gyra's JazzProfiles.com profile.

Ambush's gospel-rooted musical upbringing, combined with formative sideman work behind soul-jazz saxophonist Stanley Turrentine in Washington, D.C. clubs, shaped a groove-first bass style that fit naturally into Spyro Gyra's jazz-funk foundation once he joined in 1992.