Ross Hammond

“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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“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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