Joe McQueen
Joe McQueen | |
---|---|
Birth name | Joe Leandrew McQueen |
Born | Ponder, Texas, U.S. | May 30, 1919
Died | December 7, 2019 Ogden, Utah, U.S. | (aged 100)
Genres | Jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Saxophone |
Years active | 1930s–2019 |
Joe Leandrew McQueen[citation needed] (May 30, 1919 – December 7, 2019), also known as Joe Lee McQueen,[citation needed] was an American jazz saxophonist.
Biography
McQueen was born in Ponder, Texas, and raised in Ardmore, Oklahoma.[1] His father left when he was a young boy and his mother died when he was 14 years old, after which he lived with his grandparents.[1] in part because of his cousin, Herschel Evans, a saxophonist with Count Basie during the 1930s.[2] He developed a relationship with Thelma, whom he met on a dance floor in Ardmore, and they married on June 10, 1944.[3]
McQueen toured with bands throughout the United States. While passing through Ogden, Utah, with his wife Thelma in 1945, the leader of the band McQueen was in at the time took the group's money,[4] later losing it while gambling on the way to Las Vegas.[2]
McQueen and wife Thelma decided to remain in Ogden.[1] He performed with jazz musicians when they stopped in Utah, such as Charlie Parker, Chet Baker, Paul Gonsalves, Lester Young, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and Ray Charles.[3][5]
In 1962 he played in
As he approached the age of 100, he was still performing.[1]
Awards and honors
McQueen was the subject of the documentary film
Health and death
McQueen was diagnosed with
McQueen died on the morning of December 7, 2019, at the age of 100. He was survived by his wife of seventy-five years, Thelma.[6][3]
References
- ^ a b c d e Saal, Mark (9 February 2019). "About to turn 100, Joe McQueen gets a new sax — and a state proclamation". Standard-Examiner. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-136-64911-0. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Jazz legend Joe McQueen, the 'coolest cat in town,' dies at 100 after pioneering Utah's music and civil rights scene". The Salt Lake Tribune. December 7, 2019.
- ^ a b Diamond, Austen (18 April 2013). "Joe McQueen Day". Salt Lake City Weekly. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Joe McQueen" (PDF). 17 October 2015. Archived from the original (.pdf) on 2015-10-17. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ Scholl, Jacob (December 7, 2019). "Ogden jazz legend Joe McQueen dies at the age of 100". Ogden Standard-Examiner.