The Future Is Female (Posi-Tone)
Roxy Cross
Released March 2018
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nQvHrEVG0LqOM0XcfYtyFGz4loXumyINY
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5xx6RxNqXopS4eUr4T5DyF?si=XJOqmFe3RLOltUMdmvI5jQ
About:
Saxophonist Roxy Coss steps boldly into the spotlight with her album “The Future Is Female.” This exciting musical program features Coss’ brilliant original compositions presented by an amazing group of players, including guitarist Alex Wintz, pianist Miki Yamanaka, bassist Rick Rosato, drummer Jimmy Macbride, plus a special guest appearance by Lucas Pino on Bass Clarinet. Critical listeners will certainly agree that Coss’ performances clearly demonstrate both her command of the saxophone and her functional mastery of the jazz idiom. With a delicate balance of modernity and classic aesthetics, “The Future Is Female” is insightfully straight forward, steadily swinging, and refreshingly melodic enough to evoke a wide assortment of bright moments to discerning jazz fans everywhere.
Track Listing:
1. Nevertheless, She Persisted (Roxy Coss) 6:15
2. Little Did She Know (Roxy Coss) 4:10
3.She Needed A Hero, So That’s What She Became.6:07
4. Females Are Strong As Hell (Roxy Coss) 3:21
5. Mr. President (Roxy Coss) 5:58
6. #MeToo (Roxy Coss) 4:03
7. Choices (Roxy Coss) 6:38
8. Feminist AF (Roxy Coss) 4:50
9. Nasty Women Grab Back (Roxy Coss) 3:22
10. Ode To A Generation (Roxy Coss) 5:40
Personnel:
Roxy Coss: tenor, soprano 3 & 9, bass clarinet 6
Alex Wintz: guitar
Miki Yamanaka: piano
Rick Rosato: bass
Jimmy Macbride: drums
Lucas Pino: bass clarinet (10)
Recorded September 21, 2017 at Acoustic Recording, Brooklyn, NY, by Nick O’Toole
Assistant Engineer: Michael Brorby
Photography by Desmond White
Package Design by Beth Escott Newcomer/Escott
Associates Producer: Marc Free
Review:
The Future Is Female is all instrumental, but it’s message music through and through. If titles like “#MeToo” and “Nevertheless, She Persisted” don’t send the message, saxophonist Roxy Coss’ performance on her third album should get it across. This is hard-hitting post-bop: aggressive, determined and grim. But the grimness can overwhelm. Some song titles, like “She Needed A Hero, So That’s What She Became,” suggest uplift; instead comes unrelenting sadness, amplified by Coss’ impassioned soprano solo. “Females Are Strong As Hell” is the record’s fastest and swingingest. But guitarist Alex Wintz and Coss simply bear down and trade burning, yet mirthless, improvs with drum interpolations by an equally flinty Jimmy Macbride. But that’s the point. The Future Is Female is a musical manifesto for the #MeToo movement—no laughing matter. Indeed, the track called “#MeToo” is perhaps the album’s most heartbreaking, Coss’ bass clarinet portraying weariness. Hope, though, arrives on the last three tracks. “Feminist AF” is no less determined or aggressive than its predecessors, but features an infusion of the blues. “Nasty Women Grab Back” might be described as darkly playful, and on “Ode To A Generation” bass clarinetist Lucas Pino projects cautious optimism. The Future Is Female is a benchmark in Coss’ burgeoning career; while it’s likely a long-term standout in her discography, few jazz recordings so fully capture their moment.
Michael J. West (DownBeat)
