Women in Jazz Organization
Bloomfield, NJ
Musician, Composer, Educator & Activist Roxy Coss has become one of the most unique and innovative Saxophonists on the scene. Winner of a 2016 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award, the Downbeat Critics Poll has listed her a "Rising Star" on Soprano Saxophone for seven years, and Jazziz called her an “Artist to Watch”. She has headlined extensively around the world, including major festivals such as Sopot Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Melbourne Big Band Festival, NYC Winter JazzFest, BRIC Jazz Fest, Earshot Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Summerfest, Ballard Jazz Festival, and venues like The Jazz Standard and Jazz Showcase. The Roxy Coss Quintet has held residencies at New York City clubs including SMOKE Jazz Club and Club Bonafide, regularly tours internationally, and received a four-year grant from the Local 802 NYC Musician's Union. Her fifth album, entitled "Quintet" (OiM), received 4-Stars from Downbeat. Coss has performed as a side musician with Jazz greats including Clark Terry, Louis Hayes, Rufus Reid, Billy Kaye, Houston Person, and Claudio Roditi. She was a member of trumpeter Jeremy Pelt’s group from 2012 through 2014, has been a member of The Diva Jazz Orchestra since 2010, and regularly performs with big bands including Darcy James Argue's Secret Society. Past performance experience also includes appearances with Wynton Marsalis, Buster Williams, Joshua Redman, Joe Lovano, Mulgrew Miller, Harry Allen, Steve Wilson, Mark Gross, Gary Smulyan, Harold Mabern, Jerry Vivino, Eric Marienthal, and Ken Peplowski, among others. Roxy is an endorsing artist for P. Mauriat, Vandoren, and Keyleaves products.
Roxy is the Founder and President of Women In Jazz Organization (WIJO), a collective of over 500 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. The organization is committed to honoring Black Americans as the creators of jazz.
Roxy serves on the Board of Directors for Jazz Education Network (JEN), is Jazz Faculty at The Juilliard School, and an Artist-in-Residence at Arizona State University. As an educator, she has over 20 years of experience. In addition to faculty positions and private instruction, she has led Masterclasses around the world, including Sopot Jazz Festival, Berklee College of Music, University of North Texas, Georgetown University, University of Manitoba, Western Michigan University, Purdue University, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Ithaca College, Queens College, The Jazz Academy of Music and Seattle’s JazzEd. Roxy has served as an adjudicator for festivals such as the Northern Arizona University and Bellevue High School Jazz Festivals, and for competitions and panels like the Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition. She regularly performs with teaching programs such as Jazz For Young People's "Let Freedom Swing!" at JALC and JazzReach. She has held faculty positions at The New School and Borough of Manhattan Community College, Ramapo High School in NJ, and Beacon High School in NYC.
Friday, January 6, 2023
1:00 PM – 1:50 PM US EST