Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

UCSD jazz haters prompt Brian Ross to move on

"I felt the administration was really coming down on me."

Brian Ross can take partial credit for bringing Bruno Mars to UCSD seven years ago.
Brian Ross can take partial credit for bringing Bruno Mars to UCSD seven years ago.

After more than 13 years of bringing concerts to UC San Diego, program and events manager Brian Ross called it quits on June 23. Ross collaborated with students to bring many pop and hip-hop acts to the campus, including Anderson Paak, Smashing Pumpkins, Primus, and the 2010 snag of Bruno Mars (with the help of student-partner Liz Kim) for the Price Center Ballroom.

Video:

Smashing Pumpkins at RIMAC Arena, UCSD, 11/30/08

"Gossamer"

"Gossamer"

Ross was a part of the start-up team that designed the Loft, UCSD’s all-ages nightclub that opened in 2009.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“I was a part of a team that doesn’t really exist anymore at UCSD. A lot of my coworkers have gone to other states and other jobs,” says Ross.

Ultimately, he felt a lack of support was causing friction at the school.

“I’m very open-minded,” says Ross. “I love all styles of music. But the people I was working for didn’t share that open-mindedness. A lot of what I was experiencing in recent years at the Loft was a switch from concert programming to activities scheduling — I felt that things were getting watered down and I was losing inspiration and feeling the need for growth. It was harder to feel comfortable in that environment.”

Especially irksome to the higher-ups was his commitment to jazz.

“Too much jazz for the administration!” says Ross. “Jazz had become a bad word and was hurting my reputation at the school, which was sad because the room really worked well to showcase some of the faculty and grad students. We only did jazz once every three weeks or so, but if we made it more regular, I felt the administration was really coming down on me. There was the perception that I was doing something ‘wrong’.....

“In 2016, I received a ‘Jazz Promoter of the Year’ award, but I didn’t feel comfortable hanging it in my office because some people felt they didn’t want that kind of attention....

“It was time to move on, but I loved working with the students and the professors, so it was a tough decision. I moved to Newport Beach, and I’m booking larger rooms with bigger capacities, but I still have an address in San Diego and I’m still booking shows for the Music Box.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Ed Kornhauser, Peter Sprague, Stepping Feet, The Thieves About, Benches

The music of Carole King and more in La Jolla, Carlsbad, Little Italy
Next Article

Why you climb El Cajon Mountain at night

The man with no rope fell 500 feet
Brian Ross can take partial credit for bringing Bruno Mars to UCSD seven years ago.
Brian Ross can take partial credit for bringing Bruno Mars to UCSD seven years ago.

After more than 13 years of bringing concerts to UC San Diego, program and events manager Brian Ross called it quits on June 23. Ross collaborated with students to bring many pop and hip-hop acts to the campus, including Anderson Paak, Smashing Pumpkins, Primus, and the 2010 snag of Bruno Mars (with the help of student-partner Liz Kim) for the Price Center Ballroom.

Video:

Smashing Pumpkins at RIMAC Arena, UCSD, 11/30/08

"Gossamer"

"Gossamer"

Ross was a part of the start-up team that designed the Loft, UCSD’s all-ages nightclub that opened in 2009.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“I was a part of a team that doesn’t really exist anymore at UCSD. A lot of my coworkers have gone to other states and other jobs,” says Ross.

Ultimately, he felt a lack of support was causing friction at the school.

“I’m very open-minded,” says Ross. “I love all styles of music. But the people I was working for didn’t share that open-mindedness. A lot of what I was experiencing in recent years at the Loft was a switch from concert programming to activities scheduling — I felt that things were getting watered down and I was losing inspiration and feeling the need for growth. It was harder to feel comfortable in that environment.”

Especially irksome to the higher-ups was his commitment to jazz.

“Too much jazz for the administration!” says Ross. “Jazz had become a bad word and was hurting my reputation at the school, which was sad because the room really worked well to showcase some of the faculty and grad students. We only did jazz once every three weeks or so, but if we made it more regular, I felt the administration was really coming down on me. There was the perception that I was doing something ‘wrong’.....

“In 2016, I received a ‘Jazz Promoter of the Year’ award, but I didn’t feel comfortable hanging it in my office because some people felt they didn’t want that kind of attention....

“It was time to move on, but I loved working with the students and the professors, so it was a tough decision. I moved to Newport Beach, and I’m booking larger rooms with bigger capacities, but I still have an address in San Diego and I’m still booking shows for the Music Box.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Goldfish events are about musical escapism

Live/electronic duo journeyed from South Africa to Ibiza to San Diego
Next Article

Aftermath of 99 Cents Only shut-down

Well, Dollar Tree, but no fresh fruit
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.