Cool jazz marks the return of the Alley Door Club

January 8, 2009
Muskegon Chronicle
Marla Miller

Jazz musician Rick Hicks played an early preview of the Alley Door Club season on Nov. 8 and returns Friday to formally kick-off the club's winter and spring run.

Hicks' quartet has performed at the club several times since its inception and he enjoys the low-key setting, crowd diversity and feedback, and the freedom to play a varied set list, he said. The group covers everything from jazz to R & B to rock'n'roll and "definitely the blues" -- plus crowd requests.

"It's different from what we ordinarily expect in Muskegon," he said. "People come together from different backgrounds and we just kind of run the gamut (with what we play). We get to have a lot of fun, too."

ALLEY DOOR CLUB

What: The Alley Door Club with Rick Hicks Quartet. When: 7-10 p.m. Friday. Doors open at 6 p.m. for Happy Hour. The club will be open the second and fourth Fridays monthly through May 8. Where: Rehearsal halls on the third floor of the Hilt Building inside the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts, 425 W. Western, Muskegon. Admission: $6 in advance or at the door. Valid I.D. required for admittance. Cash bar, free snacks. Food will be available (limited menu) from Ed's Barbecue Pit. Information: (231) 727-8001 or www.frauenthal.info.

The Alley Door Club consists of two adjacent rehearsal halls in Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts' Hilt Building, which have been converted into a nonsmoking, nightclub atmosphere designed to showcase the best local folk, jazz and blues musicians. The club is open 7-10 p.m. the second and fourth Fridays monthly through May 8 and is presented by Frauenthal Center and Bayer CropScience.

Those who have been to the club before will notice some changes this year. Admission has increased from $5 to $6.

They also will find a larger room with the capacity to hold 250 people, said Bill Bodell, the Frauenthal Center's technical director and club co-founder. Gone is the "Litter Box," which allowed late arrivals and overflow crowds to see and hear the action via video feed on a large television screen. The solid wall that divided the two rehearsal halls has been partially removed and the space remodeled over the summer with funding from the Community Foundation for Muskegon County.

"Boy, everybody was just raving about the room when we kicked off the club in November," he said.

For those who were familiar with the old layout, the acts used to set up and play at the far end of Johnson Hall by the windows. Now, they have been moved to a more central area.

"Now everyone will be able to see the bands live and not have to watch them on the video monitor," Bodell said. "Now everyone will be able to have some space."

The Alley Door Club debuted in February 2006 when Bodell and Mark Gorter, the Frauenthal's head sound technician, developed the idea of transforming Johnson Hall into a smoke-free club setting.

Organizers kicked off the club's second season in early September 2006, but low attendance due to football and other activities convinced them to turn it into a January-May series the past two years. Still, the mission to bring good tunes and a bit of big-city sophistication to downtown Muskegon has worked.

Tables may be reserved. Only two four-tops and two eight-tops will be available for reservations each night on a first come, first paid for basis. Four-tops are $55 and include four tickets; eight-tops are $80 and include eight tickets. They should be reserved in advance by calling 727-8001, Bodell said.