Melvin Sparks

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Melvin Sparks (born March 22, 1946 in Houston , Texas , † March 15, 2011 in Mount Vernon , New York ) was an American guitarist of soul jazz , hard bop and rhythm and blues .

Live and act

Sparks began playing the guitar at the age of eleven; at 13 he was already performing with BB King . In 1963 he became a member of The Upsetters , who played as a backing band for stars like Little Richard , Sam Cooke and others. After leaving the Upsetters , Sparks worked with Jack McDuff in 1966/67 , in the late 1960s and in the 1970s with Hank Crawford , Lou Donaldson , Charles Kynard and Charles Earland , with whom he recorded the 1969 album Black Talk . In the 1980s he worked with Jimmy McGriff (Blue to the Bone) , in 1996/97 again with Hank Crawford and with Joey DeFrancesco , and in 2000 with his father, Papa John DeFrancesco . In 2001 he recorded the album Keep that Groove Going! With Red Holloway . on.

Sparks has also worked on the recordings of Bob Cunningham , John Patton , Lonnie Smith ( Think , 1968 on Blue Note ), Sonny Stitt , Grover Washington, Jr. and Reuben Wilson . He recorded some albums as a band leader for Prestige Records and Muse in the 1980s and 1990s, but these are now out of print; From the end of the 1990s, the albums I'm A Gittar Player (1997), It Is What it is (2004) and That Is It! (2005).

His guitar style is heavily influenced by Grant Green .

Discography

Band leader

  • Sparks! (Prestige, 1970) with Leon Spencer and Idris Muhammad
  • Spark Plug (Prestige, 1971) with Grover Washington Jr. and Idris Muhammad
  • Akilah! (Prestige, 1972) and Idris Muhammad
  • Texas Twister (Eastbound, 1973; BGP / Ace 1995)
  • Melvin Sparks '75 (Westbound / 20th Century, 1975; BGP / Ace 1995)

Accompanist

With Lonnie Smith

  • Think! (Blue Note, 1968) with Lee Morgan
  • Turning Point (Blue Note, 1969) with Lee Morgan and Idris Muhammad

With Lou Donaldson

  • Hot Dog (Blue Note, 1969) with Charles Earland and Idris Muhammad
  • Everything I Play Is Funky (Blue Note, 1969; 1970) with Lonnie Smith and Blue Mitchell
  • The Scorpion (Blue Note, 1970; 1995) with Leon Spencer and Idris Muhammad
  • Cosmos (Blue Note, 1971) with Leon Spencer and Idris Muhammad

With Charles Earland

  • Black talk! (Prestige, 1969), with Idris Muhammad et al. a.

With Charles Kynard

  • Wa-Tu-Wa-Zui (Beautiful People) (Prestige, 1970; 1971)

literature

Web links

Audio sample
obituary

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obituary in All About Jazz ( Memento of the original from July 24, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed March 16, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.allaboutjazz.com
  2. ^ Melvin Sparks on Blue Note Records - Recording period between 1968-1972 .
  3. ^ Melvin Sparks on Blue Note Records - Recording period between 1968-1972 .
personal data
SURNAME Sparks, Melvin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz guitarist
DATE OF BIRTH March 22, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Houston
DATE OF DEATH March 15, 2011
Place of death Mount Vernon , New York