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Steve Dooks
Two Days On The Floor
Review By Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
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CD Label: Limelight Productions
Now here is concept for all of you bent on using technology to make your music better. Get together a few good friends that know how to handle their instruments, set up in your living room, and then record an album in two four-hour days. How is that for a crackerjack approach to recording an album? This simplistic insight works marvelously well for Steve Dooks on his Two Days On The Floor album.
The music defines old-fashioned ease and purity. It is quite simply, infused with tastefulness and some of the best darn straight ahead contemporary jazz you are bound to hear anywhere. Think of Sinatra in his days with Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald, or the elegance of Duke Ellington and his orchestra. This is the stuff of stardust and dreams. You get it all rolled into one modern jazz man. This is what Steve Dooks is, a man with his heart in the past, taking a page out the book of time. That is what makes his music so warm and inviting.
Dooks is a fine piano player and vocalist. His rhythm section, Jamie Giatti (bass) and Dave James (drums), complement him beautifully. I am quite impressed with this talented trio. Once again simplicity is the key here, three great musicians sound better than six that are mediocre. Dooks' voice reminded me of Billy Joel at times, he has a heart-warming sound that is beyond reproach.
I not only found the music to swing, the lyrics do as well. What happens when you have "Three Days Rain," which is a blues track, and you spend "Two Days On The Floor." I am not too sure, what you would be doing on the third or fourth day, possibly recovering from all the mischief of two days on the floor with the one you love. Even though the reference to one day of sunshine and three days of rain means a lousy week, I found that the titles could indicate much more. How one song follows the other is an interesting thing to look at. Perhaps this is all silly introspection on my behalf, but it sure is fun to wonder what it all means. In the end, you end up "Just Friends" anyway. Well, use your imagination, as you can see mine took off and ran with the titles of these songs.
This is an excellent album with eleven solid recordings for your enjoyment. Those that appreciate contemporary jazz and the roots of the groundbreaking artists I mentioned earlier will find this CD to be an absolute joy.
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