Baritone saxophonist Claire Daly to play in Utica: What to know about March performance

Call it stereotyping, but the truth is occasionally we’ll see a pairing of musician and instrument we don’t expect.

We’d be surprised, for example, to find a burly, hulking guy playing a piccolo. We’d be non-plussed if we came upon a head-banger strumming a ukulele.

And we don’t usually see a woman playing baritone saxophone, but for Claire Daly, once she discovered that instrument, there was no stopping her.

“I started out on alto sax, which was my primary instrument through my Berklee years,” explains Daly. “When I moved back to New York City, I went to try a baritone sax that was for sale.

“In the first second of playing it, I knew it was my voice.”

Was it the right choice? Decide for yourself when Jazz at The Other Side presents baritone saxophonist Claire Daly on Friday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m. But take my word for it: you won’t notice her because she’s a female bari player. You’ll notice her because she’s one of the best bari players out there.

“The woman’s got chops,” The Other Side co-owner Orin Domenico says simply. “She makes that big reed-horn — best known for R & B honking — purr, bellow, dip and swing. Whether she’s covering Monk or Motown or playing one of her own stellar compositions she makes that baritone glide like an alto.”

After taking up the saxophone at the age of 12, Daly got turned on to jazz when she attended a Buddy Rich performance. She attended Berklee College of Music and graduated in 1980, mainly playing alto and tenor saxophones before that career-changing trip to the Big Apple. While she played alto and tenor saxophone in two rock bands in the Boston area, her passion to play jazz never waned.

“I heard jazz when I was 12. I knew then that this is what I wanted to do with my life,” she recalls. “While I grew up listening to lots of styles of music, jazz was closest to my heart from the beginning.”

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Daly is a three-time winner of the Jazz Journalists Association’s “Baritone Sax of the Year” Award and a multiple winner of both the JazzTimes and Downbeat Critic and Readers Polls for “Baritone Saxophonist of the Year.”

“When I travel and work with new players all over the country, I bring some good American Songbook tunes and as long as the rhythm section can swing, we will have a good time playing,” Daly promises. “My intention is that it leads to the audience having a good time as well.

“Good jazz makes everyone feel good.”

Also featured at the show will be Tom Killian on drums; Dave Solazzo on piano; Lou Smaldone on bass; and Mike Dubaniewicz on alto sax.

Tickets are $25, $10 for students. To reserve, call 315-735-4825, email kodomenico@verizon.net or stop by Café Domenico, 2011 Genesee St.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Baritone saxophonist Claire Daly to perform in Utica