G. Love & Special Sauce // Live @ The Brooklyn Bowl // 1.26.17

Article and Photos by:  Gary Flink

Brooklyn, NY — G. Love & Special Sauce, the Philadelphia native trio of Garrett Dutton (aka G. Love- vocals, guitar, harmonica), James “Jimi Jazz” Prescott (upright bass) and Jeffrey Clemens (drums), have been cooking up and dishing out their signature blended musical recipe of funk-filled, hip-hop blues since the mid-’90s and made a welcomed stop on Thursday night at New York’s Brooklyn Bowl.

Taking the stage shortly before 9:30p with G. Love seated front and center. With his harmonica rack around his neck and Gibson Les Paul in hand, they got their funky groove on quickly with Prescott’s moving bass line, Clemens’ steady drum beat and G. Love’s urban accented lyrical flow.

With over 20+ years of touring and songwriting, the band has changed their musical direction at times and has never been shy to challenge themselves and explore other genres. At their core though, their music has always been rooted in Blues, R&B, funk-rap, and soul.

With an extensive library of music to draw from, the night’s song choices included many of their time-tested classics including “Back Of The Bus,” “Baby’s Got Sauce,” and “I-76.”

After moving through their high-energy setlist and then leaving the stage for just a few minutes, G. Love returned, alone this time and with his acoustic Gibson J-45. He opened the encore with an intimate, stripped down rendition of “Gimme Some Lovin’” from their most well known album, 1999’s Philadelphonic. The Special Sauce then joined him on stage for the remainder of the encore, which lasted almost as long as the main set, and ended with fan favorite “Cold Beverage” from their 1994 self-titled debut album.

After what appeared to be the end of the show, and while most of the crowd was heading for the exit doors or back to the bar for some late night cocktails, the band answered the calls from the audience that remained and turned the Brooklyn Bowl, for one last time, into a funky, smile-filled dance floor with a final encore of “You Got What I Need”.

Once they finally left the stage, there was no doubt that G. Love and the band certainly delivered to the fans exactly what they had all come for…a simmering serving of Special Sauce with lots of hip-hop blues flavor.