Ross Hammond

”Ross Hammond is a man who can probably express himself with a guitar better than most of us can with the English language...” -Sacramento News and Review, 2009

“Sacramento based guitarist Ross Hammond's Teakayo Mission is one of those rare, indie sessions that creatively succeeds where so many others fall by the wayside. Leading a potent group that listens as effectively as it plays...Hammond merges rock, jazz and free improvisation into a cohesive collection beyond category....Flying under the radar of the mainstream, Teakayo Mission straddles the border- lines of multiple genres, occupying a creative no-man's-land of the future....” -Troy Collins, All About Jazz

“Blending '70s-era fusion styles with Latin and Indian influences Teakayo is a free-jazz outfit featuring percussionists Joaquin McPeek and Scott Amendola, bassist Lisa Mezzacappa and saxophonist David Boyce

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”Ross Hammond is a man who can probably express himself with a guitar better than most of us can with the English language...” -Sacramento News and Review, 2009

“Sacramento based guitarist Ross Hammond's Teakayo Mission is one of those rare, indie sessions that creatively succeeds where so many others fall by the wayside. Leading a potent group that listens as effectively as it plays...Hammond merges rock, jazz and free improvisation into a cohesive collection beyond category....Flying under the radar of the mainstream, Teakayo Mission straddles the border- lines of multiple genres, occupying a creative no-man's-land of the future....” -Troy Collins, All About Jazz

“Blending '70s-era fusion styles with Latin and Indian influences Teakayo is a free-jazz outfit featuring percussionists Joaquin McPeek and Scott Amendola, bassist Lisa Mezzacappa and saxophonist David Boyce. Hammond and his brethren are free, but not abyssmally so. Their music still swings.” - Rachel Swan, East Bay Express 6/28/07

”Ross is a guitarist and on this release he surrounds himself with impeccable musicians who obviously share his joy and belief in this type of jazz. It’s a bold album. It is challenging and intelligent and joyous. I like it very much.” -Mark Robinson, www.itsajazzthing.com

“Ross Hammond is to the local jazz scene what alternative rock was to the late 1980s and early 1990s....the RACE!!! Quartet played a blistering, intricate set that was exploratory and fascinating. RACE!!! is one of the most interesting musical projects currently working in Sacramento, and I suppose jazz fans can rejoice in seeing such a group in the super- intimate settings it tends to play. Check where you can catch them next. You certainly won’t be disappointed.” -Christian Kiefer, Sacramento News and Review 11/05

“Hammond and Jenkins exhibited confidence and craft as they jammed through 40 minutes of India- themed guitar and tabla improv, with a pre-recorded tamboura droning in the background as accompaniment. Hammond’s use of guitar effects like layered harmonies, sounds turned backward, and distorted individual notes—just to name a few tricks—along with Jenkins’ dexterous percussion made it easy to forget there were only two musicians on stage” -David Riedel, Sacramento News and Review 1/07

“Hammond’s music continues to impress me with its particularly laid-back and yet very contemporary take on jazz, managing, as he does, to fuse the mellow and romantic qualities of Chet Baker and—for a guitarist’s comparison—Wes Montgomery, along with Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis. The end result is one moment spacey and another melodic, and altogether interesting music.” -Christian Kiefer, Sacramento News and Review, 6/04

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