Titles like "musician," "actor" and "broadcast journalist" could fill just about any résumé, but they're not enough for Ryan Christopher Montaño.
"I never know what's going to happen next, and I want that every single day for the rest for my life," said Montaño, a Berkeley-trained jazz trumpeter.
Montaño and four others will play at Outpost Performance Space on Aug. 6. It's his first concert foray into what he calls "instrumental pop," a branch of jazz that's heavier on melody than improvisation.
"The thing with straight-ahead, contemporary jazz is that I'll hear one of the most phenomenal melodies I have ever heard in my entire life, and then after 30 seconds it's gone because the song is 90 percent improvisation," Montaño said. "The biggest difference between my music and straight-ahead jazz is it's more melody-based. It's not so rooted in improvisation."
Bobby Shew, legendary trumpeter and Montaño's mentor, said his student's style is different, but not completely unprecedented.
"He is not a 'jazz purist,' but as he stated to me during lessons, he feels more adept and comfortable in more 'popular' types of music, such as smooth jazz - I guess along the lines of Chris Botti and Rick Braun, rather than following the paths set by Charlie Parker (and) Dizzy Gillespie," Shew said.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Montaño enjoys his style of music, despite the negative connotation it has with jazz purists.
"I write what I like. That's really the only thing I can control," Montaño said. "At the end of the day I can say I create the music that I love."
Friend Dominic DiCello said Montaño can also keep up with the best of any jazz purists, who strive to play their instruments quickly.
"Sometimes when you go and hang out at the jazz club and you hear hundred-mile-an-hour people trying to show off how fast they can play," DiCello said. "We can play our instruments really fast, but it seems like coming up with a good tune is something different, as opposed to someone just trying to show off. He takes pride in putting a song together."
DiCello, a pianist, will also play at Outpost and shows great enthusiasm for working with Montaño.
"He's got a pretty clear idea," DiCello said. "One way or another he's going to show it to you, not in a harsh way, but in kind of cool and directed way. ... When it's me and him, it's all music."
A few others will be playing with Montaño and DiCello at Outpost, and all of them favor the melodic-based jazz, Montaño said.
"I'm really excited to be able to share the stage with these musicians, not only because of their talent on their respective instruments, but just because they think so similarly," he said. "We all share such musical interest and that kind of comes across on the stage as a cohesive union."
In addition to his musical pursuits, Montaño also had a speaking role in the movie "Love and Dancing," and was the star of the local commercial, "Toss no Más."
"It's something that really helps my music career," Montaño said. "When people hear that such and such has done movie things, they are like, 'Check that out.'"
After he graduates from UNM with a double major in broadcast journalism and psychology in the spring, Montaño plans to leave for Los Angeles in hopes of reaching his goals in music, acting and journalism.
"I have nothing set up," Montaño said. "No connections. Nothing. I'm just going out there and I am just going to do it. I'm going to peruse modeling, acting and music."
Shew said that with honed determination and expert technique at his disposal, Montaño might end up one of the best musicians to come out of New Mexico in a while.
"He demonstrates clearly to me that he is a very determined young man with some well-defined goals in front of him," Shew said. "There is certainly a market for smooth jazz and world music these days, so if Ryan gets it all together - both business-wise and musically - I'm pretty sure he'll do very well."
Ryan Chistopher Montaño Quintet
The Outpost Performance Space
210 Yale Blvd. SE
Thursday, August 6
7:30 p.m.
Price: $15 general admission / $10 students
