G. Love & Special Sauce: Love Saves The Day

G. Love & Special Sauce
Love Saves the Day
(Brushfire/Republic)
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

There has been no need for Philly’s Garrett Dutton, aka G. Love, to change his style over the past 20 years, simply because no one else is doing what he does, let alone so successfully. The ingredients to his personal brand of revelry-ready special sauce are blues, jazz, rock, funk and soul all smothered with a serving of his cool, hip-hop vocals. On paper it seems like a mess, but in reality, Love has churned out a dozen or so albums — both solo and with his long-standing two piece backing group — of remarkably consistent quality. Sure, most of them till similar soil, but with his wildly diverse influences, the approach never gets stale. 

Just when you think you’ve got the guy pegged, he changes direction, always keeping the vibe unpredictable, organic, even rootsy, in his rather large wheelhouse. Love has never been shy about inviting guests to share the spotlight. In the past he has worked with everyone from Dr. John to Jack Johnson (the latter owns the Brushfire label he records for), Marc Broussard and Ben Harper. This time he opens the door even wider to duet with Lucinda Williams, DJ Logic, Ozomatli and Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo. The guests often push this disc into somewhat tougher rock territory, especially Hidalgo who revs up his guitar on the bluesy rocking of the title track and the rugged rap-rawk of “That Girl.” Citizen Cope and the Ozomatli horns join on the soulful “Muse” and singer Kristy Lee pushes “Pick Up the Phone” into overdrive with help from Love’s under-utilized harmonica skills. He gets into a funky — and frisky — New Orleans groove on the irresistible “Peanut Butter Lips,” grinding out sexed-up lyrics with a salacious grin.

But whether he’s retro bopping (along with a surprisingly spry Lucinda Williams) for the Beatles/Little Richard inspired rollicking cover of Leadbelly’s “New York City,” stripping down to solo acoustic guitar on the Delta blues of the closing “Lil’ Run Around,” or letting Ozomatli’s horns take over on the appropriately titled “Let’s Have a Good Time,” Love sounds as inspired and electrified as if he just figured out this style last week. Even after two decades of cranking out the same basic formula, everything feels fresh, exciting and vibrant making Love Saves the Day perfect for the new fan or those who have stuck with him since the beginning. Push “play” and get the party started.