Roxy Coss: Disparate Parts
Outside in Music

Two things might be said right off about Disparate Parts, both of them secondary to the actual music. First, the album would be better credited to the Roxy Coss Quintet, not the tenor and soprano saxophonist only. Yes, she's definitely the leader, produced the album, and wrote much of it, but Alex Wintz (guitar), Miki Yamanaka (keyboards), Rick Rosato (bass), and Jimmy Macbride (drums) are so integral to the performances they merit billing too. Secondly, the cover concept, an achromatic photo showing a sculpted mask, seems too muted for material and performances of such vibrancy. The inclusion of a full-colour group photo, on the inner sleeve at least, also might have been considered when the music's so infused with the personalities of its creators.

What really counts, of course, is the musical content, and it's terrific. After making its first appearance on 2018's The Future Is Female (Posi-Tone) and following it a year later with Quintet (Outside In), the outfit makes its most powerful statement to date with Disparate Parts, as high-octane a document of its playing as could be imagined. At the storm's centre is Coss, who tears into the material with authority and whose energy is equaled by her emboldened partners. One pictures her, seven months pregnant, in the studio with her bandmates on June 8, 2021, their excitement bolstered exponentially by playing together again after periods of lockdown, uncertainty, and isolation.

The title's structurally reflected in two pieces, the first a four-part suite written by Coss dealing with body, mind, heart, and spirit and secondly in five short takes of Yamanaka's “February” scattered throughout the disc. While the latter are interludes, their spontaneity and adventurousness is in keeping with the visceral immediacy of the album in general. After “February (Take 3)” introduces the set, the album proper roars into being with the “The Body,” the driving inaugural part of the suite. Opening with a rugged guitar episode, the material thereafter ventures into jazzier areas, with Coss lunging into the first of many towering solos against a post-bop groove. Wintz blows the roof off with a scalding turn, Yamanaka colours the music with Fender Rhodes radiance, and Rosato and Macbride power the others with an unstoppable train of locomotion. The heat generated by the five is veritably combustible, the breathless performance serving notice that this is a special quintet indeed.

“The Mind” follows, the focus initially on an ethereal intro whose swirl's reminiscent of early Philip Glass before the piece settles into serpentine melodic moves, infectious rhythms, and funky electric piano from Yamanaka, after which things turn romantic for “The Heart,” the tempo slowed to a contemplative level and Coss's refined tone on full display. At suite's close, a dreamlike, floating quality informs “The Spirit” in the collective's exploration, the soprano-wielding leader spearheading the search with agility and Wintz following her lead. Also memorable is Coss's “Mabes,” an infectious Harold Mabern homage delivered as a sultry 3/4 vamp.

Other members contribute solid tunes too. Wintz's “Ely, MN” glides in on a colourful wave, its medium tempo and Latin-tinged swing ideal for enabling the lyrical expressions of the guitarist, Coss (on tenor), and Yamanaka (on acoustic piano) to flower. The latter's “Sunburn” drives too, with in this case an exuberant samba-styled groove drawing inspired statements from Coss on soprano, Rosato on acoustic bass, Macbride on brushes, and the composer on piano. The drummer gets in on the act also by contributing the relaxed, atmospheric “Warm One” to the set-list.

April 2022