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Steve Dooks: Cocktails, Heartaches and Cigars

By Keith Hannaleck

Artist: Steve Dooks
Title: Cocktails, Heartaches and Cigars
Genre: Jazz-Blues
Label: Limelight Productions
Website: http://www.limelightgroup.com/default.asp?mn=1.3.34.1044.144

In 2004 I discovered Steve Dooks through his album Two Days on the Floor. Three years later he offers his listeners something entirely different with Cocktails, Heartaches and Cigars. I know it sounds more like the title of a blues album; however, this is jazz with a little bit of the blues around the outer fringes and stuck in between (“It’s Called The Blues”). Jazz and blues - blues and jazz; whatever way you want to look at it they are kissin’ cousins, and Dooks goes down that path more than once.

I found a lot of lighthearted humor on this recording, and Dooks has a way of making you comfortable and right at home with his easy living room style approach. His last album had the same warmth, and because it was a successful formula it looks as though he decided to stay with it. He is the winner for making that decision.

I found great levity and irony in “My Attorney Bernie.” The words, although filled with cynicism and a very funny jab at lawyers, will have you finding a common ground with the singer. The progression of the tracks is a typical love affair from the hearts-on-fire start to the bitter end when it all falls apart, then you have the blues in some bar; sipping on cocktails and looking for your next hostage to start the process all over again. The story is very familiar and one that everyone loves hearing repeatedly. Dooks makes it all a fun ride with his demeanor and instrumentation, which seem to fall right in line with his lyrical processions.

Dooks looks like he is playing the part on the cover of the CD; the lonely cowboy drowning his sorrows at the bar, with one exception - this cowpoke plays jazz ‘n blues not country music. He plays piano quite well and the rest of the band seems to have no problem following his lead to fill in their parts respectively.

I did not get into this album straight away like on the previous release, but found after a few listens that the intention here was to explore jazz and several of the subgenres while leaving behind the complexities and seriousness that jazz can entail. The end product is good music and it makes light of the pain we all go through at one time or another in our lives. Thanks again Steve for helping us to listen with both ears and to hear the message in between the notes. The ability to laugh in the face of tragedy is a gift and if you absorb it through a musical journey it makes it all just a little easier.

Reviewed - September 7, 2007

Tracks:

01. Smooth and Easy
02. What Does Your Heart Say
03. The Smile On Your Face
04. Cocktails, Heartaches and Cigars
05. In My Dreams
06. Let's Eat Home
07. My Attorney Bernie
08. I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face
09. I Don't Have You Anymore
10. It's Called The Blues

About the Author:

Keith Hannaleck, known as “MuzikMan” is a Journalist specializing in independent and major music reviews and the promotion of artists via the various media outlets flourishing online. He has worked closely with artists, management, publicity directors, and webmasters to provide some of the best and far-reaching coverage an artist could have. Focusing primarily on the internet as a medium for his work, Keith has been a pioneer in the industry changing the way a reviewer with his various talents are used by many artists, PR folks, and labels. He has provided strong and valuable work to labels, artists, and publicity people, writing reviews, press releases, and biographies and much more over the years, giving the people he works with the maximum amount of exposure through several top-notch websites that post his content on their sites.

Hannaleck built and maintained his own website in 1998 while networking and building his reputation through thousands of reviews and interviews, creating a special niche for himself. Through many years of dedication and hard work, he has reached a respected level of competence and knowledge that is frequently sought by the music industry today. Known for his speaking from the heart interpretations of music and being able to put it in layman’s terms for music fans, his work is found everywhere in cyberspace and in traditional print media, from press kits to quotes from reviews in magazine advertisements.