Lloyd Jones: Love Gotcha

Lloyd Jones packs quite a one-two punch with his Delbert McClintonesque vocals and his gritty guitar work. On Love Gotcha, the Oregon native serves up a danceable horn-propelled stew of blue-eyed soul, funk and blues.

Jones' music is bouncy and upbeat — excellent party fare. His band The Struggle boasts one of the best horn sections in contemporary blues. Factor in the punctual grooves and the leader's smoky vocals, and Love Gotcha is sure to lift your spirits. Half the credit goes to keyboardist Glenn Holmstrom, who contributes the funky horn charts.

Highlights include "I Declare," an enticing R&B shuffle. The title track is a fast-groovin' description of a man bitten by the love bug. Sonny Terry and Brownee McGhee's "Ride and Roll" rocks out righteously, while "Old News" is a slow-blues emoter. "Fools Gold" showcases some scintillating slide work by Jones. The acoustic blues tune "Big Ol' Shirt" proves that Jones learned a trick or two from his former collaborator Taj Mahal.

Jones' music has been derided as too slick by some critics, but the instrumentation here sounds mighty tight. This one's a fine follow-up to the widely praised Trouble Monkey.