Steeped in modern and traditional jazz, classical music, Indian ragas, Brazilian bossa nova and choro, rock, funk and African music, Dan Magay is a fresh voice on saxophones, flute and clarinet. Born in Los Altos, California, he began clarinet at nine and saxophone at ten — and it's been love ever since.
He studied at the University of Southern California and then Berklee College of Music, graduating magna cum laude in 1994 — his teachers include George Garzone, Jerry Bergonzi, Bill Pierce, Joe Viola and Hal Crook, with classical clarinet alongside. In 2000 he moved to New York and co-founded The Hub with Tim Dahl and Sean Noonan — an eclectic punk-jazz trio that toured Europe, Japan and the U.S.
Since returning to the Bay Area in 2005 he has performed across every idiom — the Fil Lorenz Orchestra, the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, the Monterey Jazz Festival Big Band, African music with Thierno Camara, Brazilian music with Sylvana Magda — and leads his own groups: the Wind Up Trio and the Dan Magay Trio.
“…curling his sinewy lines that refuse to be intimidated.”James Griffiths · The Guardian, UK
“A free-sax blast of sound, gripping in its precision and energy — a real breath of fresh air.”John Fordham · The Guardian, UK
“A conversational approach very akin to Eric Dolphy — from fierce screams to lilting melody.”John Cratchley · Jazzwise, UK