Joe McQueen

During his life, McQueen has performed in Ogden with jazz luminaries such as Charlie Parker, Chet Baker, Paul Gonsalves, Lester Young, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, and others. McQueen has toured as a musician in the Rocky Mountain West. He played in 1962 in Idaho Falls, Idaho with Hoagy Carmichael.

During his early years in Ogden, McQueen worked and played at the Porters and Waiters Club in Ogden. This was one of the few venues open to black Americans at the time. McQueen was the first African-American in Utah to play at previously white-only establishments and to have a mixed-race band.

At the age of 95, McQueen continues to perform live in clubs from Ogden to Salt Lake, record, and was recently the subject of a documentary film: "King of O-Town."

Get Our Newsletter