Ross Hammond

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. He graduated from Christian Brothers High School in 1995.

Education He attended California State University Sacramento, 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." Both albums were recorded live in one day in a style reminiscent of classic jazz albums. Cathedrals received a four-star review in Downbeat and was named one of the top jazz releases of 2013. Jazz critic Ted Gioia 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. 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. From 2006 until 2012, he programmed the In The Flow Jazz Festival in Sacramento, CA.

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 Mean Crow (2015) with Luke Stewart and Nate Scheible Humanity Suite (2014) with Vinny Golia, Catherine Sikora, Clifford Childers, Kerry Kashiwagi and Dax Compise Flight (2015) solo acoustic Ross Hammond and Vinny Golia (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 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 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