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Musician

Melvin Sparks

Melvin Sparks

born on 22/3/1946 in Houston, TX, United States

died on 13/3/2011 in Mount Vernon, NY, United States

Melvin Sparks

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Melvin Sparks

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]

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 and Charles Earland. 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]

Partial Discography

As leader

  • Sparks! (Prestige, 1970)
  • Spark Plug (Prestige, 1971)
  • Akilah! (Prestige, 1972)
  • Texas Twister (Eastbound), 1973
  • '75 (Westbound), 1974
  • Sparkling (Muse), 1981
  • I'm a Gittar Player (Cannonball), 1997
  • What You Hear Is What You Get (Nectar), 2001
  • It Is What It Is (Savant), 2004
  • This Is It! (Savant), 2005
  • Groove on Up (Savant), 2005

As sideman

With Henry "Pucho" Brown

  • Jungle Strut (Lexington), 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), 1988
  • South Central (Milestone), 1992
  • Tight (Milestone), 1996
  • After Dark (Milestone), 1998
  • Crunch Time (Milestone), 1998
  • The World of H.C. (Milestone), 2000

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), 1998
  • Hip Cake Walk (Highnote), 2000

With Karl Denson

  • Dance Lesson No. 2 (Blue Note), 2001

With Lou Donaldson

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

With Charles Earland

  • Black Talk! (Prestige, 1969)
  • Slammin' and Jammin' (Savant), 1997
  • Cookin' with the Mighty Burner (Highnote), 1997

With Ceasar Frazier

  • Hail Ceasar! (Eastbound), 1972

With Red Holloway

  • Coast to Coast (Milestone), 2003

With Plas Johnson

  • Keep That Groove Going! (Milestone), 2000

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 (Levtronic), 2005

With Johnny Lytle

  • Good Vibes (Muse), 1981
  • Happy Ground (Muse), 1989

With Jack McDuff

  • Do It Now! (Atlantic, 1966)
  • Double Barrelled Soul (Atlantic, 1967) - with David Newman

With Jimmy McGriff

  • Countdown (Milestone), 1983
  • State of the Art (Milestone), 1985
  • Blue to the Bone (Milestone), 1988
  • 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 for Love (Baseline), 1988

With Sonny Phillips

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

With Bernard Purdie

  • In Tokyo (Lexington), 1993

With Alvin Queen

  • Lenox and Seventh (Black and Blue), 1985

With Rhoda Scott

  • Very Saxy (Night and Day), 2004

With Johnny Hammond

  • Wild Horses Rock Steady (Kudu, 1971)

With 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)

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

  • Bluesband (Portrait), 1988

With Reuben Wilson

  • Blue Mode (Blue Note), 1969
  • The Cisco Kid (Groove Merchant), 1974
  • Down with It (Cannonball), 1998
  • Fun House (Savant), 2004

With Jimmy Witherspoon

  • The Blues Is Now (Verve), 1967

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Henderson, Alex. [Melvin Sparks at All Music Guide Melvin Sparks Biography]. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2007-06-23.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chinen, Nate, Melvin Sparks, Guitarist, Is Dead at 64, March 20, 2011. URL accessed on March 21, 2011.
  3. House of BBQ
This page was last modified 14.04.2014 02:56:45

This article uses material from the article Melvin Sparks from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.