Claire Daly
Claire Daly
Saxophone & Flute
Claire received her degree from the Berklee College of Music. After graduation she anchored the sax section in the Diva Big Band for 7 years and recorded 5 CDs with the brilliant, quirky composer/pianist Joel Forrester and their band "People Like Us." She then released two CDs as leader on Koch Jazz (now re-released on Dalybread Records), and a new release of her own called "Heaven Help Us All" (Dalybread Records). She has backed up Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney among many others. In the fall of '05, Claire began a new long-term project tracking down some of the hidden treasures of the jazz world, interviewing them on video and plans an eventual documentary. She is currently working with human beat box Napoleon Maddox and bassist Joe Fonda with "IsWhat?!", melding hip hop and jazz. Claire was the DownBeat baritone critic poll winner in 2003, 2004, and 2005. The Jazz Journalist Association named her the "baritone saxophonist of the year (2005)." Claire has been a resident artist at the Litchfield Jazz Camp since 2000.
