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Melvin Sparks

Melvin Sparks (March 22, 1946 – March 15, 2011) 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.

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.

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.

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

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

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 Hank Crawford

With Joey DeFrancesco

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

With Lou Donaldson

With Charles Earland

With Red Holloway

With Ron Levy

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

With Johnny Lytle

With Jack McDuff

With Jimmy McGriff

With Idris Muhammad

With Houston Person

With Sonny Phillips

With Dr. Lonnie Smith

With Leon Spencer

With Sonny Stitt

With Reuben Wilson

With others

See also

References

4. Sparkplug:The Melvin Sparks Documentary-http://www.beacons.ai/sparksfleye

External links