Melvin Sparks


Melvin Sparks 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 and Charles Earland. 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

With Henry "Pucho" Brown/Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers
With Rusty Bryant
With Hank Crawford
With Dennis Day
With Joey DeFrancesco
With Papa John DeFrancesco
With Karl Denson
With Lou Donaldson
With Charles Earland
With Ceasar Frazier
  • Hail Ceasar!
With Red Holloway
With Etta Jones
With Charles Kynard
  • Wa-Tu-Wa-Zui
With Ron Levy
  • Zim Zam Zoom: Acid Blues on B-3
  • Voodoo Boogaloo
With Johnny Lytle
  • Good Vibes
  • Happy Ground
With Jack McDuff
With Jimmy McGriff
  • Countdown
  • State of the Art
  • Blue to the 'Bone
  • Feelin' It
  • McGriff Avenue
With Idris Muhammad
  • Black Rhythm Revolution!
  • Peace and Rhythm
With John Patton
  • Soul Connection
With Houston Person
  • The Nearness of You
  • Suspicions
  • Heavy Juice
  • We Owe It All To Love
  • Christmas with Houston Person and Friends
With Sonny Phillips
  • Black Magic
  • Black on Black!
With Bernard Purdie
  • Bernard Purdie's Jazz Groove Sessions In Tokyo
With Alvin Queen
  • Lenox and Seventh -with Dr. Lonnie Smith
With Rhoda Scott
  • Very Saxy: Live Au Meridien -with Ricky Ford, Houston Person
With Johnny "Hammond" Smith
  • Wild Horses Rock Steady
With Dr. Lonnie Smith
  • Think!
  • Turning Point
With Leon Spencer
  • Sneak Preview!
  • Louisiana Slim
  • Bad Walking Woman
With Dakota Staton
  • A Packet of Love Letters
With Tom "T Bone" Stinson
  • On Fire
With Sonny Stitt
  • Turn It On!
  • Black Vibrations
With Leon Thomas
  • Leon Thomas Blues Band, 1988
With Reuben Wilson
  • Blue Mode
  • The Cisco Kid
  • Down with It
  • Fun House
With Jimmy Witherspoon'