Hide Article Text (OCR)
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Fairbanks, AlaskaFriday, October 16, 1987—9By ANNA FARNESKIStaff Writerdam Wool is crazy about jazz. He plays drums and when he realized Fairbanks lacked a “jazz scene” he bought his own club. Sort of.He and his brother Geoff opened the Hot Licks Ice Cream Parlor a year and a half ago fortwo reasons: ice cream and jazz. “There was no regular thing around, so I bought my own club,” jokes Wool now.Since then Wool and a handful of other jazz musicians have met once a week to perform at the tiny parlor on College Road. It’s the only place in town jazz fans can congregate regularly andhear their favorite music.The crowds have been enthusiastic. “The response from the start has been much better than I expected,” Wool said. “I was afraid if we played people would leave.”Unaware ice cream addicts who wander into the store Sunday nights are met with a strange sight. Ail 32 chairs in the parlor are filled. Other fans mill around or sit on the floor, and they’re all tapping their feet with eyes glued to the six musicians playing underneath posters of jazz greats Billie Holliday, Clarence Brown and Charlie Mingus.Natasia Geerhart, 35, grew up in a tiny village on the Kuskok-wim River. Monday evenings she would tune in to a jazz program. An education major at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, she treks down the hill from campus to relax and listen.Last Sunday she brought a friend. “This is unique,” said Bob Jameyson, a fellow student.I’ve been looking forward to this. I’d pay for it if I had to. A lot of people I know come here.” According to Jon Yuriar, one of the hosts of a jazz show on KUAC, the band is serving an important purpose.“They’re a good little group,” he said. “I think they fill a real void here in town because there really is no regular jazz you can go listen to.”Yuriar. along with Wool, said a lot of Fairbanksans are interested in jazz, but they just don’t have a club they can rely on to furnish it. “It’s a prettyradical thing,” said Wool of the three-hour, Sunday night sessions.□ THE HOT LICKSBAND—“Maybe you’ve got to play free for a year before they pay,’’ says Adam Wool of the band’s future. From the left, Alex Clark, Adam Wool, Steve Mraz, Ron “Rif’’ Rafson. Not pictured, Dawn Holmes and Mark Morris.The band consists of drummer Wool, bassist Ron “Rif” Raff-son, trumpeter Steve Mraz, pianist Mark Morris, guitarist Alex Clark and vocalist Dawn Holmes. They perform a mixture of new and old jazz, ranging from be bop and swing to Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock numbers. Along with the regulars, a steady stream of other .-ocal talent turns up to join in. Except for a brief paying stint at a local club and a few other appearances, the band plays solely at Hot Licks. And they play for free.They’d rather be paid, but without a paying crowd that’s out of the question.“It’s one of most fun gigs Iplay,” said Rafson, who also works as a laborer. “If I’m gonna go out and play for fun I’d rather play jazz.” Jazz, he said, is not as popular as rock’n’roll.“Most play it for their own sake and they do something else to make money,” he said.Mraz said he’s thankful for the opportunity. “Jazz is so put behind the times in this town there’s no where you can go and play,” he said. “I just like playing jazz The pay is knowing how many people come in and listen.”What the music does offer to musicians is freedom to experi ment and improvise. One of the key elements to playing jazz is improvisation. Wool saidWhereas in classical or rock'n’roll the musician is confined to playing a set tune, jazz musicians ean vary the song change it as they perform. They also have to be technically good musicians before they can improvise“Jazz is a more wide open form of expression?” said Wool. “I got into jazz because I was bored with what I was hearing. You may hear jazz and say that sounds like noise. But not if you know what they’re doinWool plans to keep the music flowing at Hot Licks. The band performs every Sunday from 8 to 11 p.m. “It’s probably the highest art form in town.” he. “Who knows, maybe we’ll get a paying gig and hope fully somebody will come.”
Newspaper Details
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
Fairbanks, Alaska, US
Fri, Oct 16, 1987
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Adam W.
USA 13 Feb 2023
Other Publications Near Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
Daily News Miner
Fairbanks Weekly News Miner
Fairbanks Evening News
Fairbanks Daily Times
