Music festival devoted to Joe McQueen confounds many, including McQueen
Jazz legend Joe McQueen, 96, at his home in Ogden, December 10, 2015.
Jazz musician Joe McQueen, 96, performs at Lighthouse Lounge Saturday, February 5, 2016 in Ogden, Utah.
OGDEN — Ogden jazz fans left a concert disappointed Thursday as the headliner of the “McQueen Jazz and Film Festival” didn’t make an appearance.
But according to Joe McQueen and members of his quartet band, it’s because the event organizer, Godfrey Bey of Advancement Enterprise, misappropriated his name, misled the public and mistreated McQueen’s band.
“It wasn’t my fault. The guy running the thing ran my musicians off forcibly,” McQueen said. “I wasn’t going to go down there by myself.”
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Bey staged the show at 7:30 p.m. April 21 at Peery’s Egyptian Theater, promising to “not only celebrate the legacy of Mr. McQueen but allow the name to be celebrated for years to come.” The Ogden City Council was slated to present McQueen with a plaque and recognition of his cultural significance to the community.
“Every year, McQueen Day is done and celebrated at a local pub or somewhere among people who admire him,” Bey said. “But I felt it would be awesome (to have) a cultural connection, that the culture can identify with, because Mr. McQueen is a positive role model.”
McQueen, 96, made his name in Ogden as a jazz saxophonist. He has performed in Utah for 70 years.
He previously told the Standard-Examiner he didn’t mind the festival being named after him as long as it helped other people.
McQueen was listed on the event’s program, suggesting he was scheduled to at least make an appearance at the end of the festival. Members of The Joe McQueen Quartet said they expected to perform up until 15 minutes before the curtain went up.
But McQueen said he and his band were manipulated.
“(Bey) was supposed to pay them and me, too. But he didn’t do anything. All he wanted was money,” McQueen said. “That’s the reason I didn’t show up. He used my name for that doggone thing and I didn’t get a cent out of it.”
Ryan Conger, organist in the quartet, said the band has since retained an attorney and plans to pursue legal action for using McQueen’s name for profit and without permission.
“It’s really my desire right now that we get this problem solved as quickly and directly as possible,” Conger said. “I don’t want to inflame the situation. What happened was really out of line for anyone to have to deal with, but especially Joe McQueen.”
Bey said he initially had a “gentlemen’s agreement” to use McQueen’s name for the festival, and later got him to sign a letter “that mentioned and gave him the idea of what we were going to do.”
Conger said the document has no legal clout. He also said Bey’s expectations were unreasonable.
“He was expecting Joe to be at a VIP party, shaking hands, signing autographs and not getting compensated. He never asked if Joe was OK with that,” Conger said. “Asking him to be at an event for six hours, at 96, is completely insensitive.”
VIP tickets for the festival cost $50, which included a meet-and-greet with “band members” at 5:30 p.m. and a “jam session” after the festival. Harley and Buck’s restaurant was scheduled as the site of both VIP events.
Adult general admission tickets sold for $15 .
Conger said the quartet didn’t know the details of the festival and what was expected until Bey approached them at a performance at the Funk ‘n’ Dive for Joe McQueen Day on April 18 — three days before the event.
The band agreed to play at festival for “an insulting low amount,” Conger said, with McQueen appearing at the end of the show only, and not appearing for the meet-and-greet or jam session.
“We thought, ‘OK, it’s not ideal and not what we want, but this thing’s happening in two days.’ Joe didn’t want to let down all these people who bought tickets, he felt obligated because his name was on the event,” Conger said.
Conger also said he was not aware the city council intended to present a formal recognition at the festival.
Bey said he only learned of McQueen’s truncated appearance plans late Wednesday night.
When Conger and another member of the quartet arrived to set up for the festival Thursday, he said they felt uneasy. Both Conger and Bey confirmed the band asked to be paid up front for its performance.
“I feel these guys felt I was overstepping my bounds,” Bey said.
Bey said he had no intention of paying The Joe McQueen Quartet because they didn’t have a contract with him (the festival program does not list the quartet among the scheduled performers). He also said McQueen was never supposed to perform, only to make an appearance.
Following the festival, McQueen’s fans and some audience members expressed their disappointment in Facebook comments on the quartet’s page. Some even suggested refunds were in order.
“I will gladly give the audience a refund if I can get money from the agencies I had to pay out,” Bey said.
He said he owes $138 in Weber County-required insurance, $150 to one of the presenters and an unspecified amount to Peery’s Egyptian Theater.
He said he also agreed to pay the Skyline Trio $300, the Jazz Vespers Quartet $1,000 and to give the Ogden High School Jazz Band a percentage of the tickets they sold, which amounted to $205. Had McQueen made an appearance at the festival, Bey said he would’ve given the musician $1,000, although he did not have a payment agreement in writing.
Revenue from ticket sales amounted to $2,000, Bey said.
“I have nothing to hide, I’m an honest man,” he added.
Marcia White, chair of the Ogden City Council, made an appearance at the beginning of the event to recognize McQueen.
“We were totally expecting him to be there. We had a nice plaque for him and everything,” she said. “He obviously is an important contributor to our community … I would have loved to hand it to him in person and recognize him for that. I don’t know where he was.”
Doug Lythgoe, owner of Harley and Buck’s, said he also felt Bey misrepresented the festival when he approached him about hosting the meet-and-greet and jam session for VIP guests. He was under the impression McQueen would appear at both events.
“It definitely wasn’t what Godfrey made it sound like it was supposed to be,” he said. “We were happy to be a part of it … but definitely, we had people come over and ask if (McQueen) was going to be there or not, and asked why he wasn’t at the thing across the street (at the Egyptian Theater) and why.”
Around 35 VIP guests came to the post-festival jam session, Lythgoe said.
Bey said while he regretted McQueen’s absence, he doesn’t feel he misled the public.
“I’m not trying to claim fame to his name, I’m just trying to create a festival in his honor,” he said. “Do I wish I got more support from his band? I do. I cannot perceive why they would not think it would be a good thing for Mr. McQueen to have a jazz festival named after him.”
Contact Reporter Leia Larsen at 801-625-4289 or llarsen@standard.net. Follow her on Facebook.com/leiaoutside or on Twitter @LeiaLarsen.
