Upcoming Releases

What a year it has been! I hope all of you are getting back into the groove and feeling some sense that things are going to be alright!

Despite the pandemic, I am happy to say that music has continued and if anything it has been a rich period for creative exploration and reflection. I’ve been pretty quiet as of late about my musical endeavors, so I wanted to share some news about both the collective, Jasper Grooves Collective, and my solo work as Brian Jasper Hull. Along with Mark Raynes, Jo Asker and numerous other musical cohorts, I’ve managed to get about 5 new songs recorded and produced over the past year. Some of them will be released as singles from Jasper Grooves Collective and a couple from myself, Brian Jasper Hull. As the songs keep coming and the inspiration keeps flowing, I wanted to keep all of you in the loop about upcoming releases. You will be the first to know that the songs are coming out! This week on Friday July 9, “Blues for Sisyphus,” a Jasper Grooves Collective original, will be officially released on streaming platforms or wherever you find your music.

So why, you might ask, does Sisyphus have the blues? For aficionados of Greek mythology, you already know that Sisyphus was an inveterate rascal who pushed his luck too far with the gods. And for this rascality, he was condemned to perpetually push a rock up a hill whose summit he could never quite reach. At the moment of truth, the rock would frustratingly roll back to its starting place and Sisyphus would stubbornly try again. It’s an image that the French philosopher Albert Camus found to be a perfect metaphor for the modern human condition. And nowadays it ain’t just poor Sisyphus who’s stuck in the muck and the mire; it’s the daily absurdity that we all live in. It’s the grind, the workaday world, the hamster wheel. Some days there’s no denying it, we’re just treading water even if we know we were meant to fly. So that’s the thematic basis for this modern blues with ancient roots.

Beyond mythological themes, the song has its fair share of musical roots. It’s not a sad blues but a funky declaration of going beyond the blues, transcending the blues. It was exciting to get Walter Hannah on board playing organ for this one. Hannah is a Colorado-based keyboardist who I’ve wanted to work with for a long time. His touch on Hammond organ was the perfect match for the tune. It was also auspicious to get longtime collaborator Andrew Vogt on baritone sax to add some serious grease into the mix. As for the rhythm section, the usual suspects Mark Raynes played drums and Jo Asker held down the low end.

On the level of what inspired the tune, my experience has been that every song has an initial inspiration whether musical, visual or otherwise. The initial spark for Sisyphus was inspired by a good buddy of mine who regularly drops gems in his conversations. I will keep his identity on the lowdown as he generally prefers keeping things enigmatic and shadowy. Once I started getting the melody composed, I was undeniably influenced by the soulful vocals of Angelo, Fishbone’s lead singer, who has been a huge inspiration to me, ever since I first crossed paths with his music back in the 80s. If you happen to know Angelo pass the tune his way. I think he’d dig it!

A final version will be released on all your favorite streaming devices this Friday, July 9! Please check it out, buy a version for your collection, and share widely if you’re inspired. We don’t have plans to release a physical album just yet, but if I hear from enough of you that you’d love a vinyl or a CD, a full length project could well be forthcoming. Following this release, we will be periodically releasing more singles, including a new one called “Soulful Machine” that is a sort of homage to Blade Runner inspired by a dishwashing machine. More on that later… Please stay in touch and let us know what you think about “Blues for Sisyphus” and the other new tunes soon to be released.

Also, rumor has it that a Jasper Grooves Collective gig might be in the works for September over at Odell Brewing Co in Fort Collins… Stay tuned…