The Unsung Singer

The Antfarm Quartet doesn't pander to its vocal minority.

by Shaun Brady

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Jazz

In jazz, the second a singer enters the picture, the picture itself tends to change. Landscape becomes portrait, with the vocalist front and center, the instrumentalists a supporting blur in the background.

The New Jersey-based Antfarm Quartet runs wholly counter to that concept. If jazz music and vocal jazz can be looked at as completely different genres — and for the most part, they are — then Antfarm falls squarely into the former category, despite the fact that most of their repertoire consists of vocal tunes.

A lot of the credit falls at the feet of vocalist Paul Jost, who, even when singing well-known lyrics, wields his voice like an instrumentalist — which, in fact, he is. He contributes harmonica and guitar to the Antfarm Quartet, and is a drummer and composer whose songs have been recorded by The Band and Carl Perkins, as well as in a slew of TV commercials.

In a world accustomed to thinking of singers as "frontmen," Jost's approach may seem self-effacing. But his efforts aren't so much magnanimous as an integral part of a four-way whole; this is a collective (hence the name), each member of which is keenly attuned to the others, a trait most valuable when it comes to knowing when to get out of the way.

In fact, the group didn't start out as a vocal quartet. Their eponymous debut, released by Philly label Dreambox Media (as is their new CD, Dialogues, pt. 2, which they're celebrating this weekend at Chris'), saw pianist Jim Ridl, bassist Tim Lekan and drummer Bob Shomo joined by trumpeter Bob Meashey, who was replaced about four years ago by Jost. Ridl recalls seeing Jost perform with Shomo and Lekan as a trio in South Jersey at a time when the original Antfarm's schedule was slackening.

"I was really moved by how great it sounded without a chordal instrument," Ridl says. "It had all this freedom in it, and I dug it so much that I wanted to get into that, too."

The gray, overcast sky dominating what appears to be a chilly Jersey shore scene on the cover of Dialogues, pt. 2 well represents the music contained within, which is remarkably unified despite the presence of Lennon and McCartney next to Rodgers and Hart next to Jobim, Joe Henderson, and originals by Ridl and Lekan. Like the emptiness of the off-season beach, the Quartet's take on often-familiar material finds an inviting loneliness once the clutter of expectations is cleared away. The overall feel is restrained but not off-putting, finding a casual warmth inside a frequently downbeat approach.

"I think we create a lot of, to me, beautiful-sounding music," Ridl says. "Even though it can get aggressive, it always has a sense of beauty to it, which I really dig. I don't want that all the time, because I like stretching, but I think it's a very welcoming vibe; it's intelligent and it's heartfelt, but there's also a lot of sweat involved, so it's not fluffy."

(s_brady@citypaper.net)

The Antfarm Quartet plays Sat., Jan. 12, 8 and 10 p.m., $15, Chris' Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom St., 215-568-3131, chrisjazzcafe.com.