New nocturne

At a time when so much new music is posing and demanding, Ross Hammond’s should be commended for its tendency to shrug and suggest. Hammond, a guitarist whose self-named trio includes bassist Erik Kleven and drummer Tom Monson, prefers a muted tone, melodically unfussy lead lines and polite deferrals to his bandmates’ roomy grooves. It is a compliment to say the trio’s new CD, Sometimes Nocturnal, finds a workspace between whalesong and the dusky, sculling jazz of ’70s cop-movie soundtracks. Music like this easily can turn into cold soup, but these guys don’t let that happen. Even when spacing out together, they know how to listen to each other. On Friday, at 8 p.m., the trio celebrates its new release at the Pin Ups gallery, 924 K Street. Admission is free, but a sliding-scale donation ($7-$10) gets you a CD. For more information, call (916) 443-2606 or visit www.rosshammond.com.