Restless Idealism

Of course, when it comes to joyful and powerful swing, it's hard to beat composer and saxophonist Roxy Coss, whose second album is an all-original sextet session and a pleasure from start to finish. She blows out of the starting gate with the straight-ahead bop number "Don't Cross the Coss" (a wry reference to the way in which people tend to get her last name wrong), then settles into midtempo with the harmonically craggy "Waiting," then gets boppy and bright again on "Push," and things just keep going like that. Great compositions, amazing playing from all concerned, and a fantastic album all around. Strongly recommended to all jazz collections.