The Jig Is Up

Pink Noise Saxophone Quartet, often accompanied by a rhythm section, packs some good-time originals into their first release, The Jig Is Up. Many of these players finally started getting some recognition by the late '90s (Briggan Krauss' gritty, wailing horn, for example, has become an increasingly familiar sound). And though all are active players in N.Y.C.'s avant-garde jazz scene, this music is quite structured; the music is barely "out" at all. Whenever a horn takes a solo to the outside, the rest of the band keeps the rhythm flowing and the tempo up front. The tightly working horn and rhythm sections funk some heavy grooves: New Orleans brass, staggered marches, Klezmer jump, and a whiskey binge wailer. The Jig Is Up has all the drama of a good pulp novel, and all the subtlety of a big party.