In 1957, a Denver jazz DJ, Harney Peterson, asked his listeners to help him find musicians to form a band. He and his wife, Jeanne, opened their home for jam sessions and rehearsals and before long a solid traditional jazz ensemble took root. They chose the name Queen City Jazz Band. The QCJB's first gig was at a local roadhouse, the Mon-Vue Village, where the band played every Friday and Saturday night for the next l4 years.

It was in the Peterson's living room that the authentic musical style of the Queen City Jazz Band was established. Each week the band would meet at Harney and Jeanne's and learn one or two new tunes directly from definitive traditional jazz recordings. Occasionally, with monumental recordings like Jelly Roll Morton's recording of Black Bottom Stomp or Louis Armstrong's recording of Potato Head Blues, the musicians would learn the songs exactly. The recordings were mostly used as models, and musicians enjoyed creating their own versions of the classics. The current band maintains that same philosophy as the musicians re-create the music with great respect for the style.

The membership of the Queen City Jazz Band has evolved, but at any one time there have always been band members who had been in the band for at least two decades. That longevity among our alumni and among the current band members has preserved the QCJB's original spirit and style.  The current band has three members who joined in the 1970s when the original leader, Alan Frederickson, was still in charge.

Over the past 50 years the band has produced more than 25 recordings including four videos. The QCJB has played in the Carribean, Holland and Switzerland, and have performed at dozens of jazz festivals in North America. The band travels frequently in Colorado and adjoining states to play formal concerts, parties, and church services. In the Denver area they attract large audiences for public concerts including their own annual anniversary bash. Local steady appearances are at the Mercury Cafe for swing dancing and at the Bull and Bush for great Sunday evening jam sessions.

The Queen City Jazz Band has become a Colorado musical institution and has been honored by the State Legislature, two governors, two mayors, and the Denver City Council for its cultural contributions.

Birth of Queen City Jazz Band

Recollections by Bill Clark

Fifty years of Denver style New Orleans Jazz started with a radio show, the way I remember it. In 1956, I was the tuba player in a traditional jazz band at Golden High School. We were aptly named the Futile Five. Every Saturday morning we would listen to Harney Peterson’s “Jazz Classics” show on KFML radio. During the show he frequently mentioned that Denver needed a jazz band, and in the fall of 1957 he invited those who responded to an informal jazz party at the Coors Hospitality lounge. I was not invited to that seminal event, but my tuba was. Harney called me and asked if a guy named Herb Ordelheide could play my tuba; I responded, “Sure, if the Futile Five can come too.”

That party was a thrill for the Futile Five and I especially remember dancing with Herb’s wife Lou. In the spring of 1958, after a few more jam sessions (at a roadhouse called Duke’s) Harney Peterson’s project was named the Queen City Jazz Band. Next, Harney’s wife Jeanne negotiated a gig at a small nightclub in Lakewood called the Mon-Vue Village. The QCJB performed there every Friday and Saturday night for the next fourteen years.

Harney and Jeanne Peterson hosted the Queen City rehearsals at their home in Lakewood every Friday evening before the Mon Vue gig. They had an extensive record collection that spawned most of the QCJB’s early repertoire. The QCJB has always been recognized for possessing an authentic traditional style, and that can be traced back to the Peterson’s living room where the band learned songs directly from original recordings.

The Petersons living room was “Trad Jazz Central.” It was there that avid jazz fans, including the members of the QCJB and the Futile Five, enjoyed live performances by Max Morath, Wellman Braud, Barbara Dane, Ralph Sutton, Wally Rose, Dick Hyman, Don Ewell, and many others. The focus of their living room was music—there was a stereo at one end and at the other an upright piano with the front removed. Off of the kitchen was a very special room where ‘Harn’ maintained an extra refrigerator with a keg of Coors inside and a tap outside.

At our current performances it is not uncommon for us to be approached by fans who reminisce about great times at the old Mon-Vue. The musicians who played there in the early years built a solid foundation for all of us who followed. The original band included Alan Frederickson on trombone, Herb Ordelheide on tuba, Bill Murray on piano, Bob Cooke on trumpet, Ed Turner on banjo, Lindy Scialla on drums, and Charlie Romero on clarinet. A number of other great musicians followed over the next fourteen years including Tom Zook, Bill Clark (of the Futile Five) and Steve Watson on tuba; Ed Moldenhauer and Ron Hanscom on piano; Ron Hanscom, Bob Burdick (of the Futile Five), John Keith and Maurie Walker on banjo; Dave Moldenhauer, Ron D’Ascenz and Fred Arthur on trumpet; Ken Kennedy, Gordy Ellinger, Gene Eidy and Jack Cook on drums; and Lee Peters on clarinet and Mary Nicholas on vocals.

Queen City Jazz Band fans’ recollections of the early days often focus on the clever and intelligent humor of the QCJB’s original trombonist and bandleader, Alan Frederickson. Alan described his comments as the “spoon full of sugar.” In addition to extemporaneous quips about current events and the music, his M. C. presentation included “Readings from the Work” as he called it. With an understated style, he extracted gales of laughter by reading excerpts from books like The Massy Ferguson Tractor Repair Manual, Artificial Insemination of Farm Animals, and the astrology spoof You Were Born on a Rotten Day.

Over the years, the membership of the Queen City Jazz Band has changed, but at any one time there were always band members who had been in the band for more than a decade. That longevity among our alumni and among the current band members has preserved the QCJB’s original spirit and style. Our band today has three members who joined in the 1970s when the QCJB’s original leader, Alan Frederickson, was still in charge. Over the past 50 years, Harney’s hatchling, the QCJB, has produced over 25 recordings including 4 videos. It been recognized in proclamations by the Denver City Council, two Denver mayors, and two Colorado governors. In 2008 we continue to perform at formal concerts, jazz festivals, church services, sleazy bars, snazzy restaurants, and very special birthday and anniversary celebrations.