Baritone saxophonist Claire Daly was born in Bronxville, New York on February 26, 1958. She began playing saxophone at age 12 and became interested in jazz after attending a performance by the Buddy Rich big band. After high school, Claire attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston where she concentrated on alto and tenor saxophones and graduated in 1980.

After moving to New York City in 1985 Daly began to develop a career as a successful freelance baritone saxophonist. Over the next three decades she would perform and record with artists as diverse as Billy Taylor, the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney and Robert Palmer. Daly made six albums with pianist Joel Forrester and her first album as a leader, 1999s “Swing Low,” was a favorite of president Bill Clinton.

She performed as a leader with her band at the Monterey, Healdsburg, Litchfield and Perth International jazz festivals, the Kennedy Center, Dizzy's Club at Lincoln Center and many more venues. A veteran Litchfield Jazz Camp teaching artist for two decades, Daly was head of the Litchfield combos and was a teacher at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Claire Daly was a three-time winner of the Jazz Journalists Association's Baritone Saxophonist of the Year award and a multiple time winner of both the JazzTimes and Downbeat Critic and Readers Polls for Baritone Saxophonist of the Year. Claire Daly passed away in 2024 at the age of 66 after a bout with cancer.

Here is a link to Claire playing live:

"I'VE NEVER BEEN IN LOVE BEFORE"