Ross Hammond (born August 10, 1977) is a Sacramento-based jazz guitarist, educator and concert promoter.

Early life

Hammond was born August 10, 1977, in Lexington, Kentucky. He moved to Sacramento when he was 10 years old. Hammond started playing guitar, a gift from his mother, two years later. He wanted to play drums, but his mother was in favor of the more portable guitar. Hammond played rock, funk, and soul music in high school.Interview conducted by Jason Crane, July 2013 He graduated from Christian Brothers High School in 1995.

Education

He attended

California State University Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California, United States. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is part of the California State Universit ...

, where he received a degree in communication in 1999. "I was taking lessons from a really good guitar teacher named Jim Beeler, and he introduced me to Kenny Burrell and Grant Green and Wes Montgomery and Mark Whitfield. It was a step further than what I was already doing." While studying at CSUS, Hammond started a band called Chile Palmer.

Performing and recording

His recording career as a leader began in 2003 with the album ''Gauche'', followed by ''Optimism'' (2004), ''Sometimes Nocturnal'' (2005), ''Ross Hammond's Teakayo Mission'' (2007), ''Duets'' (2008), and ''Effective Use of Space'' (2009). In 2008, Hammond and Byron Blackburn co-founded the In the Flow Jazz and Improvisational Music Festival. The festival emphasizes

free form jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

and takes place annually in Sacramento. Hammond started the new decade with the solo guitar album ''Ambience, Antiquite and Other Love Songs'' (2010). In 2012, he formed the Ross Hammond Quartet with multi-instrumentalist

Vinny Golia Vinny Golia (born March 1, 1946) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist specializing in woodwind instruments. He performs in the genres of contemporary music, jazz, free jazz, and free improvisation. Career As a composer, Golia fuses ...

, drummer

Alex Cline Alex Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American jazz drummer. Biography Born in Los Angeles, California, Cline began playing drums with his twin brother, guitarist Nels Cline, at the age of 11. Their first band was called Homogenized Goo and in ...

, and bassist Steuart Liebig. The quartet released ''Adored'' in 2012 and ''Cathedrals'' in 2013.The Free Jazz Collective
5 June 2013 Both albums were recorded live in one day in a style reminiscent of classic jazz albums."Whatever Lola Wants"
''Sacramento News Review'', 23 February 2012 ''Cathedrals'' received a four-star review in ''Downbeat'' and was named one of the top jazz releases of 2013. Jazz critic

Ted Gioia Ted Gioia (born October 21, 1957) is an American jazz critic and music historian. He is author of 12 books, including ''Music: A Subversive History'', '' The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire'', ''The History of Jazz'' and ''Delta Blues'' ...

named the album ''Upward'' (2016) by Hammond and Sameer Gupta thirty-fifth in his top 100 albums of the year.

Work as an educator

Hammond has been teaching out of his studio, Gold Lion Arts in Sacramento, CA since 2013.Gold Lion Arts
Retrieved 17 June 2023 In addition, he had an artist residency at Northern Arizona University in 2019, and spent a week doing individual lessons and small-group workshops, and also conducted a piece for the NAU large ensemble. He's taught music classes and workshops at Christian Brothers High School, River City High School, The Language Academy and William Land Elementary School in Sacramento. He's led improvisation and music career workshops at Sacramento City College and American River College.

Music series curator

Hammond started the Nebraska Mondays series at Luna’s Cafe in 2009, which continues to this day."Sound Advice: Ross Hammond, New Jazz and Nebraska Mondays"
''CapRadio: Sound Advice'' 18 July 2013
Retrieved 17 June 2023 From 2006 until 2012, he programmed the In The Flow Jazz Festival in Sacramento, CA."Weekend jazz festival flows down Broadway"
''Sacramento Press'', 28 June 2009 "Sacramento's In The Flow Festival"
''Avant Music News'', 7 May 2012

Selected discography

As leader

* ''Gauche'' (2003) with Sameer Gupta and Gerry Pineda * ''Optimism'' (2004) with Tom Monson and Gerry Pineda * ''Sometimes Nocturnal'' (2005) * ''Ross Hammond's Teakayo Mission'' (2007) * ''Duets'' (2008) * ''An Effective Use of Space'' (2009) * ''Ambience, Antiquite and Other Love Songs'' (2010) * ''Adored'' (2012) * ''Cathedrals'' (2013) * ''Perfect Plasticity'' (2014) with Catherine Sikora * ''Blues and Daily News'' (2014) with

Grant Calvin Weston Grant Calvin Weston (also known as G. Calvin Weston and Calvin Weston) (born June 6, 1959) is a drummer best known for his association with Ornette Coleman's band Prime Time. Career Weston was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and beg ...

* ''Mean Crow'' (2015) with

Luke Stewart Luke Stewart is a retired American mixed martial artist. Holding a professional record of 6–3, Stewart competed in the now-defunct promotion Strikeforce for his entire career. Background Luke Stewart has trained and competed in Brazilian jiu ...

and Nate Scheible * ''Humanity Suite'' (2014) with

, Catherine Sikora, Clifford Childers, Kerry Kashiwagi and Dax Compise * ''Flight'' (2015) solo acoustic * ''Ross Hammond and

'' (2016) * ''Follow Your Heart'' (2017) solo acoustic * ''Masonic Lawn'' (2017) with Jon Bafus * ''Songs of Universal Peace'' (2018) with Jay Nair * ''Reprieve'' (2018) solo acoustic * ''Riding Dragons In Winter'' (2018) solo resonator * ''Mystery Well'' (2018) with Sameer Gupta * ''New Milwaukee'' (2019) with Jon Bafus * ''Sacramentans'' (2019) with Neil Franklin * ''Chapel of St Philip Neri'' (2019) solo resonator * ''Across Oceans'' (2019) with Poly Varghese * ''Bells'' (2020) solo acoustic * ''Our Place On The Wheel'' (2020) with

Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American List of jazz saxophonists, jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano saxophone, soprano and flute. D ...

and Mike Pride * ''Acoustic Sanctuary Project Volumes 1–5'' (2020) Solo Acoustic * ''Hope'' (2020) with Jay Nair * ''Live at Gold Lion Arts'' (2021) with Sameer Gupta * ''Bless'' (2021) with Grant Calvin Weston * ''Carousel'' (2021) with Stateline * ''Ghost Door'' (2021) with Jon Bafus * ''It’s Been Here All Along'' (2021) solo resonator * ''No Worries'' (2022) solo acoustic * ''Roll Forward'' (2022) with Clifford Childers, Benwar Shepard and Devon Edmond * ''Flow State'' (2022) * ''Peace Talks EP'' (2022) * ''Wired EP'' (2022) * ''Lateral EP'' (2022) * ''West Life EP'' (2022) * ''Jazz Check EP'' (2023) * ''Era EP'' (2023) * ''Reflect EP'' (2023)

As co-leader/sideman

* Race Quintet: ''Travels'' (2004) Ross Hammond, Tony Passarell, Tom Monson, Erik Kleven, and Scott Anderson''One Final Note'' review
22 February 2005 * ''The Ni Project'' (2005) * ''V Neck'' (2007) * ''Electropoetic Coffee'' (2011) * ''Revival Trio'' (2012) * ''Amy Reed'' (2013) * ''Upward'' (2016) with Sameer Gupta

Pandemic recordings

* ''Root'' (2020) with Grant Calvin Weston * ''Between'' (2020) with JoAnn Anglin * ''Earth Music'' (2020) with Mike Pride * ''Small Lions'' (2020) with Tony Passarell * ''Sound Quilts'' (2020) with Jon Raskin * ''Fields'' (2020) with Neil Welch * ''Lines'' (2020) with Alex Jenkins * ''Vines'' (2020) with Thom Nguyen * ''Dusk'' (2020) with Alan Cook * ''Allies'' (2020) with Jon Bafus * ''Music For Lighthouses'' (2020) with Kevin Corcoran * ''Elements'' (2020) with Linda Michelle Hardy * ''Frame'' (2020) with Lauri Goldston * ''Wake'' (2020) with Mariano Rodriguez

References

External links

*
Gold Lion Arts

Gold Lion Records

Ross Hammond artist spotlight in ''Guitar Moderne'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, Ross American jazz guitarists
Living people">American jazz guitarists">Ross Hammond artist spotlight in ''Guitar Moderne'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, Ross American jazz guitarists
Living people 1977 births 21st-century American guitarists