Judge this album by its cover? Do that!

The grunge era turned Seattle into a magnet for musicians, not just because it was on fire commercially, but because of a creative outlook that combined both whimsy and darkness.

The Reptet, a Seattle jazz band founded by a grunge-era immigrant from Philadelphia, reflects that Northwest sensibility nicely on a new album, "Do This!"

The album has been attracting attention worldwide because of its cover by the late, great Jim Flora, whose playful yet scary designs graced classic jazz albums in the '40s and '50s by artists such as Louis Armstrong, Shorty Rogers and Gene Krupa.

The Reptet celebrates the release of "Do This!" at 8 p.m. today at Consolidated Works ($8; 206-381-3218). Amy Denio opens with a set for accordion and voice.

The "Do This!" album art is a textbook example of the maxim "It never hurts to ask."

"I started doing a little research on the Internet and I discovered who Jim Flora was," said Reptet drummer John Ewing, "and I thought, 'Why don't I just write the guy who runs the Jim Flora.com Website on a lark?' I got an e-mail response almost immediately: 'You're right. It doesn't hurt to ask. Call me.' "

The image for the album has many typical Flora elements: black ink with a one-color wash; dismembered body parts (eyes, arms, mouths); forms that suggest wild animals (octopus, bird, snake, lizard) and random geometric shapes.

Beyond being a good publicity move, the Flora artwork works well with the Reptet's music, particularly on the raucous title tune and a series of four songs inspired by the Marx Brothers by trumpet player Samantha Boshnack.

Boshnack's tight, buoyant writing for this pianoless chamber sextet's four wind instruments (two brass, two reeds) is a highlight, recalling West Coast arrangers like Rogers. I especially like the way the flighty flute and groaning bowed bass capture Groucho's comic, opposite sides.

The elegiac "Harpo" begins, appropriately, with a snippet of harp music from a scratchy old record. The tune also features a strong trombone solo by Ben O'Shea, though it's one of the few solos on the album that come up to the level of the writing. Several passages in which players improvise at the same time — double and triple "solos," if you will — are more effective than individual solos, especially when they're done over jaunty, staccato riffs.

"Do This!" and the current Reptet lineup came about when reed player Tobi Stone, who had left the band and been replaced by Izaak Mills, rejoined for a one-off gig at last year's Earshot Jazz Festival.

"All the composers had to rearrange the tunes for one more horn," said Ewing. "The show was so much fun, it re-energized the whole group."

The Reptet began in the late '90s as a repertory quartet — hence the name — but soon evolved into a creative force. It is part of a loosely-defined, 16-year-old collective of 22 players called the Monktail Creative Music Concern. Inspired by experimentalists such as Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Music (AACM) and Holland's Instant Composers Pool (ICP), Monktail was founded by two other Philadelphians, bassist John Seman and drummer Mark Ostrowski.

Ewing, who says he admires drummer Art Blakey for his straight-ahead swing and "heart," feels jazz needs to look beyond its past.

"If you box yourself in and just play in the tradition of what was happening in the U.S. until the '70s, you're missing an essential part of your education."

Amen to that. Check out the Reptet.

Paul de Barros: 206-464-3247

or pdebarros@seattletimes.com