Alien blood

JFJO goes to battle for earth

In Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey’s new comic book, The Battle for Earth, cartoon versions of members Brian Haas, Josh Raymer and Chris Combs protect the planet from aliens out to destroy it. Though they pilot “spirit elk” through space on the magic of wheatgrass and jazz improvisation, the band defends Earth with very Earthly means: They beat the shit out of the aliens with their instruments. I asked guitarist Chris Combs why they used outright violence instead of music in their fight. He just shrugged and laughed: “Um—artistic decisions?”

Conceptualized by Combs and illustrated by Joe Cappa, the comic accompanies JFJO’s new album of the same name. Though titles and artwork are identical, the music doesn’t exactly soundtrack the panels. The similarity between the works is instead found in their improvisational spirit and overall tone. 

The trio furiously improvises over the skeletons of 11 songs, all recorded live at Dazzlejazz in Denver. Like the comic, the music takes on whimsical inflections at times (a solid two four stomp can morph into a circus piano vamp) but is consistently scored by a menacing undercurrent. In the book, Cappa’s abundantly toothed, grotesque characters reduce skull-faced E.T.s to a pile of bones. On the album, the band’s heavy (and heavily hip-hop influenced) beats bring the bloodshed.  

The cartoon musicians discover that with their spirit elk, “the dirtier the improv, the higher we go.” Putting this album’s improv in their ears could send any spirit elk over the damn moon. Drummer Josh Raymer stutter-stops around his backbeats, throwing fills in gaps you didn’t know existed, while playing whack-a-mole with his accents. Combs’ fingers drip alien blood along his fretboard, oscillating between slink and shred, with occasional metal attack added to the funk assault. Founder and composer Brian Haas guides the crew with his multiple keyboards. A flurry of polyrhythms, Haas' soloing sometimes pits his hands against each other’s time signatures, occasionally veering out of control and shredding all notions of key in a burst of gorgeous dissonance. It’s all pulled off so effortlessly that, if it weren’t for the applause at the end of some tracks, the album’s “live” status could go unnoticed. 

An improvised album wouldn’t be unorthodox for a group with “jazz” in its name, but the songs beneath hold their own. Most betray a love for hip-hop with a lean toward dark funk. A standout track is “Tetherball Triumph,” a reworking of an older song. It’s a slight stylistic shift from the other tracks, with angular stabs from Haas atop a somber, Aphex-Twinnish guitar line. Darting from their respective improv sections, Haas and Combs harmonize on a jarring lead, perfectly in sync on the counter-intuitive pulse. It’s a moment that smacks of hours of practice, executed with an air of believable serendipity. 

The album is littered with moments like that—like so many mutant skulls beneath the feet of the musicians—and the “artistic decisions” fans have come to expect from JFJO over more than two decades. With every maraca to the head, melodica tube around the throat and guitar through the rib cage, JFJO delivers.

For more from Mitch, check out his story on Tulsa's best under-the-radar DJ, or read about his experiences as a musician on tour.