Musician, Composer, Bandleader, Educator and Activist Roxy Coss has become one of the most unique, innovative and noted Saxophonists on the scene, headlining at festivals such as Newport, NYC Winter JazzFest, Earshot, and San Jose Jazz Summerfest. A recipient of an ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award, the Downbeat Critics’ Poll listed her a "Rising Star" on Soprano Saxophone for six years straight, and Jazziz Magazine named her an “Artist to Watch in 2019”. Roxy is an endorsing artist for Vandoren, P. Mauriat, and Key Leaves.
The Roxy Coss Quintet is the first-ever recipient of the Emerging Artist Project Grant from the Local 802 Musicians Union AFM of Greater New York. The band, originally formed in 2008, now consists of some of the world’s top young jazz musicians, including Alex Wintz on guitar, Miki Yamanaka on piano and keyboards, Rick Rosato on bass and Jimmy Macbride on drums. In August 2019, Roxy released her fifth album as a leader, Quintet (Outside in Music) which landed on Downbeat’s “Best of 2019” list, follow-up to The Future Is Female (Posi-Tone Records), which received 4.5 Star Reviews from Downbeat and All About Jazz.
Coss has performed as a side musician with Clark Terry, Billy Kaye, Rufus Reid, Willie Jones III, Jeremy Pelt, and Darcy James Argue. She has been a member of The DIVA Jazz Orchestra since 2010, and performed in the Off-Broadway hit, Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Thru Life. Roxy was a featured musician on the television show Harry with Harry Connick, Jr in 2017.
As a composer, Roxy has collaborated with visual artists and dancers, creating scores on commission. Her jazz compositions also appear on five different full length albums, including Jeremy Pelt’s Face Forward, Jeremy (HighNote).
As an educator, Roxy has 20 years of experience with students of all ages. She is a Jazz Faculty member at The Juilliard School and on the Board of Directors for the Jazz Education Network (JEN). She has led masterclasses, served as a Guest Artist, and adjudicated for Colleges and Festivals internationally, and performed with programs such as Jazz For Young People (JALC) and JazzReach.
Roxy is the Founder and President of Women In Jazz Organization, a collective of over 400 professional jazz musicians who identify as women or non-binary. WIJO intends to help level the playing field, so that women and non-binary people have equal opportunity to participate in and contribute to Jazz, leading to an improved and more rich, diverse, and successful art form.
The Band:
Miki Yamanaka, Piano
Dave Baron, Bass
Jimmy Macbride, Drums
Amplified Currents Fall 2020
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