The latest place to hear Dionne Warwick’s voice — that one-of-a-kind instrument that defined pop sophistication in the mid-1960s — is up a few flights of stairs behind a grimy storefront several blocks from the beach in Venice.
This is the Ohm Zone, a combination recording studio, sound bath and meditation center owned by Warwick’s son Damon Elliott, where the Grammy-winning singer greets visitors in an introductory video full of enveloping tones and high-flown language about the restorative power of certain sonic frequencies.
Part of the booming wellness industry, sound baths are guided meditation experiences that use ambient music to draw practitioners into a state of deep contemplation. And over the past few years, they’ve cropped up in increasing numbers across Los Angeles as celebrities such as Charlize Theron and Adele have extolled their virtues.
But if other joints offer gongs and singing bowls, only the Ohm Zone boasts the serene vocal stylings of the woman who once soothed a weary nation with swanky hits like “I Say a Little Prayer” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose.”
