Pink Noise Saxophone Quartet

Pink Noise Saxophone Quartet: The Jig Is Up

by Tom Benton
March 1, 2000

The saxophone quartet is a curious beast. From the improv-chamber intricacies of Rova to the blustering swagger of Hamiet Bluiett’s baritone gang, the possibilities of such an instrumentation seem limitless. The Pink Noise Saxophone Quartet’s m.o. is closer to the latter, forgoing potential compositional complexity for joyfully barreling momentum, though the fruits of their labors remain completely distinctive and their own.

Leader Tim Otto is a compelling and clever composer whose melodies stand on their own bereft of his group’s ...