Who says no one uses their college degree? Andrew Hartman earned his diploma from the Ohio State School of Music in 2004 and has since released a full-length album with a local group of jazz musicians.
Andrew Hartman and Still Motion released a self-titled debut CD just this year. The five-piece will be playing at Ruby Tuesday on Friday.
The members of Still Motion fell into place one at a time through a long chain of connections and meetings.
Andy Woodson, Still Motion’s bass player, is a member of the OSU faculty. He teaches jazz in the School of Music, which is where he met Hartman.
He was teaching a combo class one quarter when he met the guitar player and admired his talent.
“When he asked me to be a part of his new band I said ‘yes, of course,'” Woodson said in an e-mail.
Hartman used to do a lot of freelance work, playing guitar with different groups around Columbus. It was in this way he met drummer Chris Guthrie.
“It was a completely different lineup of people at the very start of things when we were building a repertoire,” Hartman said. “Pretty soon the rhythm section of Andy on bass and Chris on drums came together, so it was the three of us.”
Guthrie was playing shows with trombonist Ryan Hamilton at the time. Eventually, Hartman met Hamilton through Guthrie.
The same type of connection led to finding saxophonist Michael Cox, who plays with Woodson in a band called Magically Delicious.
“I think he’s played with Andy for a really long time, at least a decade if not more,” Hartman said.
After finalizing the lineup, Hartman wanted to keep the same members for as long as possible, he said.
He explained that in the jazz community if one person can’t play a gig, it’s often rather easy to find a substitute.
Instead, he preferred to develop the group’s sound and chemistry, saying “this core group of musicians, they’re all world class players. I’m really fortunate to be playing with these guys.”
The name for the band originated in more than one way. Hartman has an interest in photography and first heard the term used in a photography class at OSU.
Also, he said “one of my favorite guitarists, Ben Monder, has a song called ‘Still Motion,’ and I had already picked the name for the band without realizing it’s one of his tracks.”
Hartman writes most of the material for the group. However, Woodson did bring in some originals from his solo CDs.
Recording the album was a good learning experience, Hartman said.
“We recorded it in November and spent up until late February or March mixing it and getting it where we wanted, which is extremely agonizing. You’re listening to yourself a lot more than you should and it can be painful,” he said.
Hartman said one of the first things about jazz that interested him was the flexibility of the music.
“It’s still the same basic form, but wherever you are or whoever you’re playing with, you play it in that moment so it’s unique to that time and place,” he said.
“When I put together a show or a set list I look at how each tune flows from one to the next, where it builds and where it might level out,” he said. “You have that in each specific tune maybe, but I try and look at the overall course of a set.”
Still Motion is not limited to jazz. It also performs some rock and pop covers. The Beatles’ “And I Love Her” is one favorite. In the past, the group has performed songs by artists such as Beck, Jamiroquai and the Foo Fighters.
As for the show on Friday, Woodson said to expect “a mind blowing spectacle of Biblical proportions.”
