What's new? JGC in 2022
As we make our way into 2022, there’s a lot cooking for Jasper Grooves Collective.
Over the last year, we released several new singles including “Blues for Sisyphus,” “Soulful Machine,” and “Skeletons of Language.” And occasionally, though not as much as we would have liked, we even got out and performed live. In 2022 we’re on track to continue expanding our sonic horizons. Here’s a few things to look forward to as we come closer to getting our second full length album completed.
I’ll be playing solo in the lobby of The Lyric, 1209 N. College Ave., on Friday, February 25. I’ll be doing two 45 minute sets, 5:45-6:30 and 8:15-9 pm, so come catch a film and see some live music, or just come for the live set. Then on March 2, we’ll do a mini version of Jasper Grooves Collective at Odell Brewing from 5-7 pm. Mark Raynes will do the honors on drums and Jo Asker will be on standup bass. Other than upcoming performances Jasper Grooves Collective has been very active recording new tunes.
“Boxing Gloves,” our newest single is slated to be released by February, is probably the most heavily Brazilian-influenced song that JGC has recorded yet. We are thrilled to have brought salsa and jazz maestro Victor Mestas into the studio to lay down the song’s keyboard parts. We also brought in Boulder-based percussionist Carl Dixon to put some serious Brazilian flavor into the mix. And though Michael Olson has often helped JGC as an arranger, we were psyched to add his fretless bass playing on this one.
Lyrically, “Boxing Gloves” is a song that asks questions. The answers depend on who’s answering. Is it the callused expert or is it the openminded child? The same question asked of the pragmatic adult who’s “been there and done that” won’t get the same answer from a child. Which turns the song’s questions right back at the skeptical adults among us. We’ve learned a lot but is there still room left in our hearts for the messiness of unpragmatic love? Every day we’re faced with dilemmas when it comes to who and what we choose to fight for. It’s inevitable to stumble across situations that are uncomfortable. The bad news seems endless. We pass homeless encampments on the fringes of our cities. A bewildered and disoriented baby bird shows up on our back porch after a thunderstorm. Another orphan has arrived in need of help. The weight of the world weighs on our souls. If we aren’t careful, others’ troubles feel like our inconvenience.
We could look the other way. After all, the world is full of skeptics who have given up on the power of love. But children don’t have this luxury. They engage with the world head on. Their openheartedness challenges us to reevaluate. Maybe we could drop the façade of “expertise.” Maybe we could learn something from their beginner’s mind, their so-called naiveté. Those old boxing gloves have spent far too long up in the attic. Maybe it’s time to dust them off.
While “Boxing Gloves” explores the frontiers of samba and soul, another new song “No Man’s Land” features the sound of a traditional Brazilian instrument, the berimbau, in a non-traditional setting. “No Man’s Land” should be released by mid-February or early March. While it’s true that “No Man’s Land” draws heavily from a distinctly Brazilian instrument, it is a song that defies easy classification. Don’t expect a saccharine remake of “The Girl From Ipanema.” Rather than imitating Brazilian classics, we saw it as a chance to explore new hybrids. Imagine a bleak Western landscape, a lonely vehicle traveling on remote mountain roads as a thunderstorm begins to mercilessly rain down onto the song’s protagonist. Think Wall of Voodoo with a dash of Nana Vasconcelos and Augustus Pablo on melodica thrown in for good measure. To put it succinctly, we’re pretty sure, you haven’t heard a song quite like this one before.
Where “Boxing Gloves” explores the human capacity for compassion and love, “No Man’s Land” explores devastating landscapes of impending doom. It’s like getting a front row seat to someone’s meltdown just as things begin to unravel. Things can suddenly take an abrupt turn for the strange. But there’s something beautiful in there all the same. It’s doom, but it’s a beautiful impending doom.
The next song waiting in the wings is “Velcro Shoes.” The song is a tribute to Walter Jenkins Jr. who is a musical mentor for me. When he was playing regularly in Fort Collins, I watched in awe as Walt pulled entire audiences under his spell night after night. As Jenkins made his way onto the stage, the props and respect were palpable in the air. Folks love Jenkins, but isn’t out of deference to his sartorial grandeur, it is something deeper than superficial theatrics. Dressed in sweatpants and Velcro shoes, Jenkins shunned visual gimmicks and instead dazzled the listeners with a cascade of ivory acrobatics serving up, a literal feast for the ears. Soul, funk and blues oozed out of Jenkins’ pores as sweat oozed out of the rapt audience members. While the Velcro might have been overlooked, it wasn’t incidental. Just as the scratchy yin and yang of the Velcro worked like an irresistible gravitational pull, Jenkins’ grooves pulled the audience into a symbiotic swirl of sound and writhing bodies. Anyone, who wasn’t initiated would soon learn not to mess with the man in the Velcro shoes.
As a rule of thumb, funk requires a greasy skillet before any serious cooking gets underway. To grease the proverbial pan, we enlisted veteran Marty Rein to do the honors on bass. Rein spent many years as Jenkins’ bassist, and so we only felt it was right to have another of Jenkins’ proteges on the tune. Beyond bass, the song needed some soulful vocals and we brought in Toni Morgan, one of the Gladys Knight’s famous Pips, who spent many years under the soul-diva’s tutelage. The result is… well, you’ll have to hear it.
The long and short of this message is that we’ve got some exciting new songs in the making. Mark Raynes has been working his magic playing drums, percussion and producing these songs. The chemistry that we’ve developed over the past eight years of collaborating and playing together has only grown stronger and we believe you’ll hear it.
So please reach out and let us know what you’re enjoying and what you’d like to hear from us in 2022! If there are venues you think we should play at, don’t hesitate to let us know. We are definitely inspired to get out and perform live more this year despite the obvious challenges!