Joe Nay (born May 10, 1934 in Berlin - died December 22, 1990 near Munich) was a German jazz musician, composer and drummer.
After studying guitar at the Berlin Conservatory, Nay studied under Kenny Clarke in Paris in 1959. Together with the pianist Jan Huydts and the bassist Peter Trunk, he founded the house band at the Berlin club Blue Note in the 1960s. This trio accompanied American musicians such as Roland Kirk, Don Byas, Dexter Gordon and Johnny Griffin.
He also played in the Michael Naura Quintet and, alongside Hartwig Bartz, Ralf Hübner and Klaus Weiss, developed into one of the most important German jazz drummers.
Later he played with Dusko Goykovich, Randy Brecker, Volker Kriegel, Ruby Braff and Jasper van't Hof. His Northern Lights ensemble, active at the end of the 1970s, included Johannes Faber, Andy Scherrer, Harry Pepl, Christoph Spendel and Adelhard Roidinger. In the 1980s he directed the group Message, in which musicians such as Harry Sokal and Paul Grabowsky played. He has worked on more than 80 LP or CD recordings.
He died from the consequences of an auto accident.
His son, Sebastian Nay, is also jazz drummer who works with the pianist Tine Schneider.