Faculty
Bill clark, The Queen City Jazz Band
The Queen City Jazz Band has been a Colorado institution since 1958. The members have changed over the years, but the band still holds-forth with authentic and exuberant New Orleans-style traditional jazz.
From 1958 until 1972 the QCJB performed on a weekly basis at the now legendary roadhouse west of Denver, the Mon-Vue Village. The band now maintains an extensive concert and jazz festival schedule, and is as likely to be out-of-town as playing locally. Each year the band celebrates its anniversary in-concert before two thousand eager fans to raise money for the Queen City Jazz Foundation.
The band counts twenty recordings and two video tapes among its credits and publishes an annual newsletter called Jazz Notes that is mailed to 16,000 fans throughout North America. The band has been recognized by the Governor of Colorado, the Colorado State Senate, the Mayor of Denver, and the Denver City Council as a major cultural institution.
The QCJB plays music from the 1920s and 30s and features fabulous blues and Gospel singer, Wende Harston. Other members of the band are John Bartmann-trumpet, Eric Staffeldt-trombone, Roger Campbell-reeds, Jim Tracy-banjo, Marl Shanahan-drums, and Bill Clark who is the tuba player and bandleader. Three excellent pianists share the keyboard position—Hank Troy, Bill Morse, and Mark Flory.
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© 2008
University of Colorado Denver College of Arts & Media