WBGO and the jazz world are mourning the loss of baritone saxophonist Claire Daly who died on October 22, 2024 at the age of 66 after a year-long battle with cancer.
Daly won "Baritone Saxophonist of the Year" from the Jazz Journalists Association and the DownBeat Critics and Readers polls multiple times.

According to DownBeat, Daly's 1999 debut, Swing Low (Koch), was selected for the collection of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum because the recording was significant to the former President while he was in office.

Daly performed as a leader at several jazz festivals through the years including Litchfield and Monterey.
She served as a faculty member for more than two decades at the Litchfield Jazz Camp. Daly also taught for a decade in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Middle School Jazz Academy.
You can hear Daybreak host Gary Walker's 2017 interview with Claire Daly here.

Claire Daly was a bright spirit who loved coming into WBGO Studios for a chat. She will be greatly missed.