Ross Hammond is a Sacramento-based guitarist, bandleader, festival organizer and music educator, repeatedly described in the local press as a "local guitar player" and a "prolific Sacramento musician" central to the city's improvised-jazz and creative-music scene.[1][2] Originally from Lexington, Kentucky and raised in the church, he had been working within improvisational music for over a decade by 2009, dividing his time between his own projects, sideman work, private teaching and curating local jazz shows.[3]
At a glance
- Sacramento-based guitarist; born in Lexington, KY and raised in the church[3]
- Active across improvised jazz, free jazz, folk and country-tinged acoustic guitar[3][4]
- Founder/primary organizer of the In the Flow Festival (launched 2008)[1][4]
- Runs Gold Lion Arts, a performance space and music school in Land Park, Sacramento[4][5]
- Bandleader of the Ross Hammond Quartet (album Adored, 2012)[6]
- Solo records include An Effective Use of Space (2009), Adored (2012), Music from "Cemetery Rose" and Flight (2015)[3][6][4]
Origin and local status
Hammond was born on August 10, 1977, in Lexington, Kentucky, and moved to Sacramento at age 10.[7] Though his Kentucky origin is noted, his scene identity is thoroughly Sacramento: Submerge repeatedly identifies him as a "local guitar player,"[1] "local guitarist,"[8][5][9] and a "prolific Sacramento musician."[2] He lives in Midtown/Land Park Sacramento with his wife and daughter, runs a Sacramento music space, and is treated as a homegrown fixture of the city's improv community.[6][4] (Local_status marked "local" on the basis of his sustained Sacramento base and scene role.)
Hammond graduated from Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento in 1995 and earned a communication degree from California State University Sacramento in 1999.[7][10] He was raised in the church, a background he connects to the spirituality of his guitar playing.[3]
Musical approach
Hammond's work centers on improvisation, which he frames in near-spiritual, meditative terms — likening playing to being "an antenna that is channeling the music from somewhere else" and comparing the trance of improvisation to communal church experience.[3] He has said he aims "to convey a sense of unity and harmony" rather than thinking in scales or keys while performing.[3] His writing typically carries a dedication or an idea — political or romantic — rather than starting from "a cool riff."[6] His acoustic teacher Jimi Butler reportedly told him that acoustic playing is the bedrock of all guitar work ("if you can't play on acoustic, you can't play shit"), a principle Hammond cites behind his stripped-down records.[4] His range spans free jazz, rock, folk and country-like twang, and he uses six- and 12-string guitars and lap steel.[3][4]
Discography and projects
Hammond's recording career as a bandleader began in 2003 with the album Gauche, followed by Optimism (2004) and Sometimes Nocturnal (2005).[7] Later records include:
- An Effective Use of Space (2009) — solo record; its title came from a phrase Hammond's wife used about arranging their house. It includes "Heaven Was Getting Crowded," which incorporates a recording of his late grandmother telling a joke during her final hospital stay, layered under solo electric and lap steel guitar loops.[3]
- Adored (released Feb. 27, 2012) — by the Ross Hammond Quartet, recorded at Newzone Studio and engineered by Wayne Peet, tracked in roughly six hours. Built from folk songs and inspired by his infant daughter Lola; the title track is a lullaby he sings her, and "Maribel's Code" encodes her initials (LMH) into its melody. The CD release party was held the day of release at Luna's Café in Sacramento.[6]
- Music from "Cemetery Rose" — described as his eighth Bandcamp-posted album, using six- and 12-string guitars for a rural, country/folk feel.[4]
- Flight (released April 14, 2015) — solo acoustic album recorded raw on a portable Zoom recorder with no overdubs; "When Cows Face the Same Direction" captures his daughter playing in the background, and "You Are My Sunshine," dedicated to Lola, received a slow-motion music video. Release shows: a solo set at Gold Lion Arts (April 12, 2015) and a Luna's Café date with Alex Jenkins on percussion as part of the Nebraska Mondays series (April 13).[4]
- Upward (2016) — a collaborative album with drummer Sameer Gupta; jazz critic Ted Gioia ranked it 35th in his top 100 albums of 2016.[7]
Between Adored (2012) and Flight (2015), Hammond recorded three other collaborative projects he characterized as among his most free-jazz and experimental work.[4]
The Ross Hammond Quartet
The Quartet paired Hammond (guitar) with three veteran Los Angeles jazz musicians: Vinny Golia (saxophone), Steuart Liebig (contrabass guitar) and Alex Cline (percussion).[6] Hammond first knew the players as a fan owning their records, and connected with them through the jazz booking/touring web — he had booked Golia a gig at the now-closed Cool Cat Gallery on 24th Street, and met Cline similarly.[6] Alex Cline is the twin brother of guitarist Nels Cline (of Wilco).[6] After several gigs together — including the In the Flow Festival — and a Los Angeles studio session, the group became official; at 34, Hammond was its youngest member and was surprised the others suggested naming it after him.[6]
Other ensembles and collaborations
Hammond has been a prolific sideman and collaborator. Around 2009 his projects included RACE!!!, Teakayo Mission, V-Neck, Lovely Builders and Joaquin's Night Train; at that year's SXSW he performed with Teakayo Mission.[3] He is a recurring invited guitarist in Lob's long-running free-form project Instagon.[11] Drummer Alex Jenkins won a Sacramento Music Award in 2008 for his work with the Ross Hammond Trio (and lists "Ross Hammond" among the many improv outfits he plays in).[8] Hammond has also performed as an accompanist for visiting songwriters — e.g. opening/sharing a 2015 Insight Coffee Roasters bill with ex–Silver Darling frontman Kevin Lee Florence.[5] He has appeared at the Midtown Arts Festival (ARTober) on the Submerge Band Stage.[12]
In the Flow Festival
Hammond is the founder and primary organizer of the In the Flow Festival, an improvisational music and art festival spanning multiple Sacramento venues that programs jazz, rock, poetry, spoken word, electronic music and blues.[1] Its formative year was 2008 — initially run, by Hammond's account, with no permits, contracts or publicity — and it celebrated its fifth year over May 9–14, 2012.[1] Hammond credits late collaborators Byron Blackburn and Tommy VanWormer with helping plan the early festival.[1] At its peak it juggled about 35 local bands over five days across Midtown and Downtown.[4] By 2015 Hammond had stepped back from the festival, citing the workload falling almost entirely on him; he framed Gold Lion Arts as a way to do similar programming year-round.[4]
Gold Lion Arts
Hammond runs Gold Lion Arts, an intimate performance space and music school at 2733 Riverside Blvd. in the Land Park neighborhood of Sacramento.[4][5] The school offers instruction in guitar, bass, drums, piano and voice.[2] In October 2016 Hammond hosted a slide-guitar workshop there covering tuning, technique, acoustic vs. electric slide, slide selection and lap vs. bottleneck styles.[2]
Nebraska Mondays at Luna's Cafe
Hammond started the Nebraska Mondays music series at Luna's Cafe in 2009, a recurring showcase for local jazz and improvised music that continued for years afterward.[7][13] The series served as the venue for the release show of his 2015 album Flight.[4]
Community and notable shows
On Sept. 1, 2017, Hammond played a 12-hour marathon solo concert (9 a.m.–9 p.m.) at Luna's Café to benefit the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, aiming to raise $2,500 (he had reportedly passed $2,000 before the event); fellow local musicians joined him on stage throughout the day and the show was live-streamed.[9] By 2015 Hammond spoke of feeling he had done his share for the local scene and being open to one day relocating (mentioning Chicago or New York), tying his future to his music and family rather than to Sacramento.[4]
Teaching
In 2023, Hammond returned to his alma mater Christian Brothers High School as a band teacher in the Media, Visual, and Performing Arts Department, noting he was "thrilled to return" to the school where he graduated in 1995.[10]