Brooklyn-based duo Dana and Alden made their Newport Jazz Festival debut on August 2 with a set that overflowed with talent and charm. About two weeks prior to the release of their new LP, Papa’s Boat, brothers Dana and Alden McWayne played a handful of new songs from the album and some of their personal favorites from their discography. At the beginning of the set, Alden informed the crowd that they’d be taking a trip to their hometown of Eugene, Oregon through their music. The pair and their touring band drew in a packed crowd of bobbing heads at the Harbor Stage as they weaved between their modernized approaches to bossa nova and jazz. Dana’s crisp shifts between dynamics and notes on the saxophone enhanced their emotional ties to their upbringing. Alden built on Dana’s heartfelt playing by refusing to leave the pocket on the drums, with a smile on his face that made his advanced technique look easy. Amidst their memorable set and the filming of a live performance on a boat in the Newport waters, Allston Pudding’s Abby Stanicek sat down with the brothers to talk about performing at the historic festival, highlights from the creation of Papa’s Boat, and their inspiring trip to Brazil.

Abby Stanicek: What was it like to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival for the first time?

Dana McWayne: Just an absolute dream come true. I was so nervous in the week leading up to playing here. Then I just had so many flashback memories the whole day leading up to it of my dad taking me to my local jazz jam for the first time, the summer Alden started playing drums. And then the year I joined the jazz band and learned the blues scale for the first time. It just all came rushing back. I was just thinking about how 12-year-old me would be so happy to be here.

Alden McWayne: Completely unreal. Yeah, to be here with my brother after we’ve like watched Newport and Newport Jazz videos for decades, and to bring our best friends and to get on stage and just give it our all. Yeah, it was lovely. Yeah.

AS: You really did. It was amazing. I absolutely loved it. I was there, and from start to finish, you just seemed so together as a band, and I can see that you are really close,beyond just playing together, but as friends as well. And I know you recently took a trip to Brazil for your collaboration “El Gaucho.” So how did that trip inspire you as musicians?

DM: We met one of our all-time musical heroes, Marcos Valle, and walked away from it feeling so inspired. He gave us so much encouragement and advice. He is where I want to be many decades from now. He’s so famous and is world-renowned, but at the end of the day, all that matters to him is writing the next beautiful melody that’s in his head. He cares so deeply about the art and is so about it. It was just amazing to be there and the people of Rio just welcomed us with open arms. There were so many friends down there that just showed us a lot of love.

AM: We’ve always loved Brazilian music since we were kids. We listened to [Antônio Carlos] Jobim and Stan Getz, Brazil ’66, so many Brazilian classics. But going to Brazil made it all real. I love Brazilian music, but after leaving the country, I feel like I understand it on another level. We went out to a samba club and it was like some of the best drumming I’ve ever heard. Just dancing the night away. Meeting Marcos was great…it’s out of our wildest dreams. And then to have him on tracks is insane, so I’m super excited about that.

AS: That new collaboration is part of your new album that’s about to come out in about two weeks. I’m wondering which song are you most excited to release to the world from that album, if you haven’t already released it?

AM: I might say “In This Together.” It was originally an outro to a song Dana wrote called “Etude,” which now has another name. But we just sent it to Cinya Khan, who went to Berklee. Boston legend. We just sent it to her and then she sent back a zip folder of files half an hour later. Then we opened it in the studio a few days later and it was like some of the coolest, most innovative singing I’ve ever heard. I don’t even play drums on that track, but I’m just obsessed with what you [Dana and the band] played and what Cinya sang.

DM: I think my favorite is “Napa ’86,” which is coming out soon. It’s my favorite song because every band member who was in the studio with us gave a piece of themselves to it, and I feel like it’s the best song we’ve ever made as a group. Everyone gave a little something and it all came together in the perfect way. And it grooves. It grooves and it stays grooving. It’s a favorite.

AS: You took us back to Oregon with your set. So I was wondering, if you could go day drinking in Springfield, [Oregon] with one artist, dead or alive, who would it be?

AM: I have to give some Oregon creds to Japanese Breakfast because she went to our high school. And yeah, she’s so cool. So I’m gonna say Michelle [Zauner].

DM: I would have to say Piero Umiliani, my favorite composer and film scorer from Italy from the ’70s. He’s not around anymore, but just from all the photos I’ve seen of him with his goofy little smile, I just know he’s a little mischievous dude.

AS: I feel like his music is like a good soundtrack to day drinking.

DM: It sounds like being on a boat off the coast of Italy.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Dana and Alden are bringing their Papa’s Boat Tour to The Sinclair on October 23, and their new album Papa’s Boat is out now!