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WBGO and the jazz world mourn the loss of baritone saxophonist and band leader Claire Daly

Claire Daly
Steve Sussman
Claire Daly

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.

Cover of Claire Daly's Rah! Rah! release
C/O of the artist
Cover of Claire Daly's Rah! Rah! release

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.

Baritone saxophonist Claire Daly
Steve Sussman
Baritone saxophonist Claire Daly

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 joined Daybreak host Gary Walker in 2017 in the WBGO Studios in Newark
WBGO
Claire Daly joined Daybreak host Gary Walker in 2017 in the WBGO Studios in Newark

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

Doug Doyle has been News Director at WBGO since 1998 and has taken his department to new heights in coverage and recognition. Doug and his staff have received more than 250 awards from organizations like PRNDI (now PMJA), AP, New York Association of Black Journalists, Garden State Association of Black Journalists and the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists.