Mesa Verde Farm and Studio has found a house musician and bandleader in Chris Ross. The at times artist getaway and creative space, other times concert venue, tucked away in Montezuma County outside Dolores, hosts a series of annual jazz shows, shows that in the past have featured local trumpet player Ross either playing in, and/or leading the band. Ross also sometimes serves as show booker and promoter.
The next performance at Mesa Verde Farm and Studio will take place Saturday, when the Chris Ross Quintet performs with “special guests.” The quintet includes Ross on trumpet, Clay Lowder on drums, Jack Maynes on piano, Tracy Korb on bass and Michelle Wagner on saxophone. The special guests for the evening are guitar player Jeff Nelson and Liz Ruggles on vocals.
Ross is fortunate; he’s the go-to guy the venue calls when it hosts a show, and his time in Durango playing jazz music has led to a number of connections with musicians willing and more importantly, able to perform a set of classic jazz.
“Over the course of being in Durango for so many years, you get to know people and you get to know your musical likeness,” he said. “If you suit well with your players, if they can read your body language on cues in songs, and how you can incorporate distributing music, getting the gig, times, rehearsals, all that stuff.”
Thank local music education school Stillwater Music for linking Ross with guest vocalist Ruggles. She moved here post-pandemic after years of teaching special education and social studies in Chicago, along with playing in various bands around the Windy City. Ruggles was stoked to find a group of musicians in Durango playing at a “professional level,” along with being part of a band where there is a band leader that seeks out suggestions on what to play as they dig into the great American, jazz songbook.
If you go
WHAT: Jazz with Chris Ross Quintet plus special guests.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Mesa Verde Farms, 18144 Road 24.25, Dolores.
TICKETS: $20 suggested donation at door.
MORE INFORMATION: www.mesaverdefarm.com.
“There’s so many awesome jazz songs out there,” she said. “Chris gives me a lot of leeway; I shoot my ideas to him, and he says ‘yeah, that’s awesome, let’s do that, or what about this, can you find the lyrics to this song?’ Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s completely collaborative.”
Ross remains a diehard fan of the trumpet, the instrument’s history and the people who have mastered playing it. It’s all about honoring the music while bringing out the best in the band.
“Clay (Lowder, drummer) once said, ‘Chris, we like your band, but you make us work.’ And I have this vast array like Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford Brown, all these 1960s trumpeters,” Ross said. “I like seeing these artists in my program and being able to play them.”
Honoring jazz is honoring a great American art form. Jazz, along with the blues, are two uniquely American styles of music, and without them there’d be no Zappa, Allman Brothers, New Grass Revival or Phish, nor would there be The Minutemen or The Black Keys, among others.
“It’s important to keep this going forever,” Ross said.
These shows at Mesa Verde Farm and Studio remain a DIY affair; leading up to this event, Ross was organizing the band and scheduling rehearsals, while also handling logistics like concert promotion. Come showtime on Saturday, he’ll deal with sound engineering and of course, leading the band and playing trumpet. He’s fine wearing multiple hats.
“It gets a little challenging,” he said. “But you just get the job done.”
Saturday’s setlist will include cuts from Hubbard, along with tunes from Joe Henderson, Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley and Wayne Shorter, as well as an original written by Ross.
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
