Roxy Coss | Saxophone
Musician, Composer, Bandleader, Educator and Activist Roxy Coss has become one of the most unique and innovative Saxophonists on the scene. A recipient of an ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award, Downbeat Magazine listed her as a "Rising Star" on Soprano Saxophone the past five years, called her "An exceptional young talent”, and Jazziz Magazine listed her an “Artist to Watch in 2019”. Originally from Seattle, and a fixture on the New York scene for over ten years, she has headlined extensively around the world, including major festivals and venues like the Newport Jazz Festival, NYC Winter JazzFest, Melbourne Big Band Festival, Earshot Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Summerfest, Ballard Jazz Festival, Jazz Standard, and Jazz Showcase. Roxy is an endorsing Artist for P. Mauriat, Vandoren, 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. They released their fourth album in March 2018, The Future Is Female (Posi-Tone Records), receiving 4.5 Star Reviews from Downbeat and All About Jazz.
Coss has performed as a side musician with Clark Terry, Louis Hayes, Rufus Reid, Billy Kaye, Claudio Roditi, Jeremy Pelt, Willie Jones III, and Darcy James Argue. She has been a member of The DIVA Jazz Orchestra since 2010, and performed with them in the Off-Broadway hit, Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Thru Life. Roxy was a featured musician on the television show Harry.
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 18 years of experience with students of all ages. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Jazz Education Network (JEN) and is a Jazz Faculty member at The Juilliard School, The New School, and the Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY). Coss is also a bandleader for Let Freedom Swing!, a Jazz For Young People program at Jazz at Lincoln Center. She has led Masterclasses and Clinics around the country, served as an Adjudicator for Festivals, and performed with teaching programs such as JazzReach.
Roxy is the Founder of Women In Jazz Organization, a collective of over 385 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 the jazz community, leading to an improved and more rich, diverse, and successful art form.
