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orn in Chicago and raised near Philadelphia, John Blegen began playing professionally at the age of 16 in a Dixieland band and in a big band composed of Drexel Tech students. He toured Europe in the summers of 1961 and 1962 with a jazz band from Williams College, and played in the mid-sixties with various Philadelphia and New Jersey groups. In the early 70's, Blegen was a member of the S.U.N.Y. Binghamton Jazz Workshop band, playing baritone saxophone, clarinet, and flute. With that group he appeared in concerts with Manny Albam, Marvin Stamm, Urbie Green, Frank Wess, and Eddie Daniels. In the 70's and 80's, Blegen worked in the Baltimore-Washington area with various bands including the Bay City Seven, the Fallstaff Five Plus Two, and the Bourbon Street Ramblers. He appeared as a featured guest with the Buck Creek Jazz Band, Southern Comfort, the Federal Jazz Commission, Big Bertha's Rhythm Kings, and the Peabody Ragtime Ensemble. During this period, he played in Europe and the U.S. with the New Reunion Jazz Band (a reunion of some of the veterans of the '61 and '62 bands, the core being Albert Oehrle, Jeff Haskell, and John McGhee), working in that group variously with Eddie Hubbell, Bob Pratt, and George Masso. He also did trio work in Baltimore with banjo virtuoso Buddy Wachter and tuba player extraordinaire Ed Goldstein. After moving to the Chicago area in 1989, he played with a variety of bands and has appeared with Max Hook, Danny Williams, Warren Kime, Eddie De Haas, Bobby Lewis, John Bany, Charlie Braugham, Bill Hanck, Don Stiernberg, and Russ Phillips. At the Milwaukee Jazz Jubilee in 1992, he was a featured soloist with the Barrett Deems Band. In 1993, Blegen formed his own quartet, The Swing Thing, composed of vibist Henry Buckwalter, guitarist Frank Portolese, and bassist Wilson McKindra, performing in the Chicago area. He continued to appear with other Chicago groups, including Ted Butterman's Neo Passé Quintet and, for a lengthy stay at the Cypress Inn (later called the Landmark Inn) in Northbrook, Jim Clark's Jazz People (usually composed of Jim, Joel Schilling, Dave Phelps, Wilson McKindra, and Wayne Jones). For five seasons, from 2003 through 2007, he was the regular clarinetist in Ted Butterman's Chicago Cubs Dixieland Band, playing at over sixty home games each season. In the fall of 2007 he performed for the Clinton [MO] Area Arts Council with a quintet including Dave Ivaz, Tom Hope, Eddie de Haas, and Jerry Coleman.

In 2008 he became a regular member of Pete Wood's Mississippi Mud Cats, performing regularly at Milwaukee's private Wisconsin Club with Pete, Gary Meisner, and Mike Britz. For several years, beginning in 2005, John occasionally substituted for clarinetist Chuck Hedges with Chuck's Milwaukee Connection Band. After Chuck's retirement in February of 2010, the Milwaukee Connection band (Steve Lewandowski, Bob Maynard, George Welland, and Jack Carr) invited John to join them, beginning a series of engagements at The Grove Restaurant and culminating in a performance at the Capital City Jazz Fest in Madison, WI, in April of 2012. In early May of 2012, John suffered a serious heart attack. He recovered fully, but had to bring his association with the Milwaukee Connection to an end. He moved to the Kansas City area in September, 2012, and, thanks to a generous assist from Chicago drummer Rusty Jones who contacted KC drummer Tommy Ruskin, has been playing regularly with the extraordinary stride pianist Bram Wijnands at The Majestic Jazz Club in downtown KCMO. He has also appeared with pianist Mike Pagán and with Vine Street Rumble, a big band that plays the 1930’s and ’40’s swing that was born in KC.