Dana & Alden

Dana and Alden are brothers Dana McWayne, on saxophone, and Alden McWayne, on drums, raised in Eugene, Oregon and based in Brooklyn, New York. Their father introduced them to Pharoah Sanders and John Coltrane and their mother sang in a choir; both came up through jazz jam sessions in Eugene led by drummer Kenny Reed. Dana started on saxophone and piano, Alden on clarinet before switching to drums, and Alden went on to study at Berklee College of Music. They pair jazz-rooted melodies with indie production, building tracks alongside a rotating cast of multi-instrumentalists including keyboardist and saxophonist Salim Charvet, guitarist Eli Torgersen and bassist Andrew Mitchell. The duo first drew attention through bedroom recordings and acid-jazz treatments of hip-hop tracks posted to Alden's TikTok account, with songs such as Let's Go To Trader Joe's and Dragonfly spreading by word of mouth online. Their releases include the EP Brothers (2021) and the albums Quiet Music For Young People (2023), Coyote, You're My Star (2024), named for a coyote that howled outside the studio on the first night of recording, Speedo (2025) and Papa's Boat (2026), the last two for Concord Jazz. Speedo was cut quickly in Lisbon in January 2025 with producer Charif Megarbane and layers synthesizers, psychedelia and new-wave textures over the horn-and-drums core; several of its tracks are dedicated to Palestinian scholars and activists, and the brothers describe political commitment as a central motivation. Papa's Boat, released August 14, 2026, runs fifteen tracks, was recorded in London, New York and Brazil, and takes the life of their late grandfather as its subject, drawing samba and bossa nova in alongside jazz, rap and pop. Guests on their records have included Cinya Khan and Melanie Charles.

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