Melvin Sparks

Melvin Sparks
Born	March 22, 1946 Houston, Texas, United States.
Died	March 15, 2011(2011-03-15) (aged 64) Mount Vernon, New York, United States
Genres	Soul jazz, hard bop, jazz blues
Occupation	Guitarist
Instrument	Guitar
Years active	1960s–2011
Labels	Prestige, Savant

Melvin Sparks (March 22, 1946 – March 15, 2011)^[1] was an American soul jazz, hard bop and jazz blues guitarist. He recorded a number of albums for Prestige Records, later recording for Savant Records. He appeared on several recordings with musicians including Lou Donaldson, Sonny Stitt, Leon Spencer and Johnny Hammond Smith.^[1]

Career

Sparks was born in Houston, Texas, United States, and raised in a musical family. He received his first guitar at age 11. Sparks began working in the rhythm and blues genre as a high school student, first with Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, and then with the Upsetters, a touring band formed by Little Richard, which also backed Jackie Wilson, Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye.^[2]

Sparks moved to New York City and worked as a session musician for Blue Note and Prestige Records. As part of the burgeoning soul-jazz scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Sparks often backed organists like Jack McDuff, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Charles Earland and Leon Spencer. Sparks released his debut album, Sparks!, for Prestige in 1970.^[2]

He was seen on Northeastern television commercials as the voice of Price Chopper's House of BBQ advertising campaign.^[3]

Sparks died on March 15, 2011, at age 64, at his home in Mount Vernon, New York. He had diabetes and high blood pressure.^[2]

Discography

As leader

Sparks! (Prestige, 1970)
Spark Plug (Prestige, 1971)
Akilah! (Prestige, 1972)
Texas Twister (Eastbound, 1973)
Melvin Sparks '75 (Westbound/20th Century, 1975)
I'm Funky Now (Westbound/20th Century, 1976)
Sparkling (Muse, 1982)
I'm a 'Gittar' Player (Cannonball, 1997)
What You Hear Is What You Get (Savant, 2003)
It Is What It Is (Savant, 2004)
This Is It! (Savant, 2005)
Groove On Up (Savant, 2006)
Live at Nectar's (One Note, 2017)

As sideman

With Henry "Pucho" Brown / Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers

Jungle Strut (Lexington/West 47th, 1993)
Rip A Dip (Milestone, 1995)

With Rusty Bryant

Soul Liberation (Prestige, 1970)

With Hank Crawford

Indigo Blue (Milestone, 1983)
Down on the Deuce (Milestone, 1984)
Roadside Symphony (Milestone, 1985)
Night Beat (Milestone, 1989)
Groove Master (Milestone, 1990)
South Central (Milestone, 1992)
Tight (Milestone, 1996)
After Dark (Milestone, 1998)
Crunch Time (Milestone, 1998)
The World of Hank Crawford (Milestone, 2002)

With Dennis Day

All Things in Time (D-Day Media, 2008)

With Joey DeFrancesco

All In The Family (HighNote, 1998)
Plays Sinatra His Way (HighNote, 2004)

With Papa John DeFrancesco

Hip Cake Walk (HighNote, 2001)

With Karl Denson

Dance Lesson #2 (Blue Note, 2001)

With Lou Donaldson

Hot Dog (Blue Note, 1969)
Everything I Play Is Funky (Blue Note, 1969)
The Scorpion (Blue Note, 1970)
Cosmos (Blue Note, 1971)

With Charles Earland

Black Talk! (Prestige, 1969)
Infant Eyes (Muse, 1979)
Pleasant Afternoon (Muse, 1981)
Slammin' & Jammin' (Savant, 1998)
Cookin' with the Mighty Burner (HighNote, 1999)

With Ceasar Frazier

Hail Ceasar! (Eastbound, 1972)

With Red Holloway

Keep That Groove Going! (Milestone, 2001)
Coast to Coast (Milestone, 2003)

With Etta Jones

If You Could See Me Now (Muse, 1978)

With Charles Kynard

Wa-Tu-Wa-Zui (Beautiful People) (Prestige, 1970)

With Ron Levy

Zim Zam Zoom: Acid Blues on B-3 (Bullseye Blues, 1996)
Voodoo Boogaloo (Levtron, 2005)

With Johnny Lytle

Good Vibes (Muse, 1982)
Happy Ground (Muse, 1989)

With Jack McDuff

Do It Now! (Atlantic, 1966)
Double Barrelled Soul (Atlantic, 1967)

With Jimmy McGriff

Countdown (Milestone, 1983)
State of the Art (Milestone, 1985)
Blue to the 'Bone (Milestone, 1988)
Feelin' It (Milestone, 2001)
McGriff Avenue (Milestone, 2001)

With Idris Muhammad

Black Rhythm Revolution! (Prestige, 1970)
Peace and Rhythm (Prestige, 1971)

With John Patton

Soul Connection (Nilva, 1983)

With Houston Person

The Nearness of You (Muse, 1977)
Suspicions (Muse, 1980)
Heavy Juice (Muse, 1982)
We Owe It All To Love (Baseline [UK], 1989)
Christmas with Houston Person and Friends (Muse, 1994)

With Sonny Phillips

Black Magic (Prestige, 1970)
Black on Black! (Prestige, 1970)

With Bernard Purdie

Bernard Purdie's Jazz Groove Sessions In Tokyo (Lexington/West 47th, 1993)

With Alvin Queen

Lenox and Seventh (Black & Blue, 1985)

With Rhoda Scott

Very Saxy: Live Au Meridien (Ahead, 2005) -with Ricky Ford, Houston Person

With Johnny "Hammond" Smith

Wild Horses Rock Steady (Kudu/CTI, 1971)

With Dr. Lonnie Smith

Think! (Blue Note, 1968)
Turning Point (Blue Note, 1969)

With Leon Spencer

Sneak Preview! (Prestige, 1970)
Louisiana Slim (Prestige, 1971)
Bad Walking Woman (Prestige, 1972)
Where I'm Coming From (Prestige, 1973)

With Dakota Staton

A Packet of Love Letters (HighNote, 1996)

With Tom "T Bone" Stinson

On Fire (Golden Zebra, 2004)

With Sonny Stitt

Turn It On! (Prestige, 1971)
Black Vibrations (Prestige, 1971)

With Leon Thomas

Leon Thomas Blues Band (Portrait/Epic), 1988

With Reuben Wilson

Blue Mode (Blue Note, 1969)
The Cisco Kid (Groove Merchant, 1973)
Down with It (Cannonball, 1998)
Fun House (Savant, 2005)

With Jimmy Witherspoon

The Blues Is Now (Verve, 1967)

See also

Jazz funk

References

^ ^a ^b Henderson, Alex. "Melvin Sparks Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c Chinen, Nate (March 20, 2011). "Melvin Sparks, Guitarist, Is Dead at 64". The New York Times. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
^ House of BBQ Archived 2009-06-16 at the Wayback Machine

External links

Melvin Sparks discography at Discogs

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