New to the music scene, jam band Jogo Justo doesn't do acid or guzzle Jack Daniels, but they are attempting to grab the attention of jazz and funk fans with their hip-swaying, fully instrumental covers and originals.
People who like jazz
blues - people who can kind of understand the language of an instrument - is going to like it said drummer Chris Keesey.
Although most jam bands try to shed the discouraging stereotypes of heavy basslines and abundant guitar solos by masquerading as a psychedelic rock reggae or funk band, Jogo Justo is a no apologies jam band
Keesey said.
The group uses plucky guitar solos, a reverberating bass and jazzy drum parts to spin dynamically different originals and, with a Jogo Justo touch, to reconstruct classic rock songs such as Come Together by the Beatles, Moby Dick by Led Zeppelin and Sissy Strut by the Meters.
We're like the greatest rap group ever because we take other arrangements and just rearrange them and kind of do them our own way
like a sampling
Keesey said.
Jogo Justo, Portuguese for just jam
plays completely instrumental songs because they don't want to force something that none of the members are familiar with, Keesey said.
Bassist Rob McConnell said he likes to play for other musicians because they seem to understand and appreciate what they are doing more than the drunk fools in the crowd screaming where's the lyrics?
Like most bands, Jogo Justo feeds off an audience's energy, but because they don't have a singer, they have to try harder to involve the crowd in the show or else it just becomes three guys wanking on stage
Keesey said.
The trio tries to get in the pocket and stay there
said guitarist Shannon Scott.
Scott said the group's first gig, opening for Fokushima at the Blue Gator, 63 N. Court St., Jan. 18, was what made him realize that the band had room to grow, but the connection between them as players was strong.
The band is like a good marriage that has grown together, Keesey explained, not like a bad relationship where a boy and a girl are nuts over each other and it consumes their life.
Before playing in Jogo Justo, Scott had been in several other blues-rock bands, Keesey played drums in Boston and was a professional prank caller using different voices to spark discussions on a New York political radio show, and McConnell was a skateboarder, snowboarder and cross-country runner who took up music when he broke his wrist.
The group regularly jammed at Scott's house with other friends, and in December, they took their performances public.
However, each member started playing together for different reasons. Scott did it for the chicks, Keesey because his wife wanted him out of the house and McConnell because it was cool.
Everybody's got something to prove...but when it comes down to it
I just want to play and have fun
and I want to hear other bands too
