100 years old

Joe McQueen Passes Away at 100 Years Old

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Famous Utah sax player and friend to many of us, Joe McQueen has passed away at 100 years old. Many musicians of course know Joe here in Utah. But those who follow my blog may know him from these recognizable portraits I’d done of him a few years ago.

For his 100 year birthday, I’d recently helped his Baptist church congregation in putting together a book on his life. And they had me play sax at his birthday party too. For that event, I made up these two videos.

Here’s the video clip of performing at his birthday party in June.

Recently, my dad and I had dinner with Joe and some other friends of his from church. He was in great spirits and has kept a busy schedule gigging, even at 100. He was always blessed with health, talent, and was a friend to so many people. At his last birthday, it was inspiring to hear so many people talk about how their lives were changed by Joe.

I’m grateful for the time I had to get to know him. He inspired many people in many areas of life, and his friendship has led to other dear friends for which I’m grateful.

I know he’s playing his sax and feeling young and free in heaven.

Joe McQueen’s 100 Year Birthday

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

It is Joe McQueen’s 100th Birthday! I had the honor of being asked to play my sax at his birthday event, and I also helped for the last few months in the creation of his biography.

It all started with his church, the Second Baptist Church in Ogden, Utah, called me to see if they could use some of my studio portraits of Joe on the cover and inside the book they were compiling. And while I helped with that book, I made many new friendships which led to being asked to play the saxophone at his birthday party.

This video explains more…

And here’s a video clip of us performing at his birthday party on Saturday.

Here’s some snapshots from the birthday event. This first image is me, my dad, and my sister in the lobby of the church next to my portrait of Joe.

My dear friend Dr. Brenda Burrell put so much time into making this event extra wonderful. She also spent months interviewing Joe and countless hours writing and compiling his words into his new biography.

Here’s a quick photo with Joe at his party, looking great at 100 years old.

Many people close to Joe spoke at the event including Don Keipp, and Brad Wheeler. And the voice of jazz music in Utah also was there to speak, Steve Williams. Here’s a photo of my family with Steve.

Utah jazz musicians know him well, because he’s been the recognizable voice and nightly radio DJ of jazz here in Utah for decades. His current show on Sunday nights is called “Jazz Time with Steve Williams” on 88.3 KCPW.

Here is the cover of his new biography which is off to the printers. I’m excited to see the finished copies, both in paperback and hard cover.

And here are some of the studio portraits I did of Joe some years ago. I love each of these images still today.

It was a great honor to be a part of this event and to be able to help in so many different ways. I’m grateful for the friendships both old and new that surrounded this event.

And if you need some great portraits, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something wonderful for you.

And until next time, America.