Biography
Although Melvin Sparks never achieved major stardom within jazz circles, his guitar work—shaped by Grant Green—appeared on numerous soul-jazz and organ-combo sessions from the late 1960s into the early 1970s. Born in Houston, the player embraced jazz alongside R&B and blues, picking up the instrument at age eleven and sitting in with B.B. King just two years later. In 1963 he entered the Upsetters, the touring R&B revue that supported Little Richard, Sam Cooke, and additional headliners. After departing that group, Sparks spent 1966 and 1967 alongside Jack McDuff.
Demand for his improvisations surged during the closing years of the decade and the start of the next, placing him on dates led by Charles Earland, Sonny Stitt, Lou Donaldson, Rusty Bryant, Sonny Phillips, Reuben Wilson, and Johnny “Hammond” Smith. Prestige issued his debut leader date, Sparks!, in 1970; additional sessions for the label followed before he moved to Westbound for the 1975 album Melvin Sparks. As soul-jazz lost commercial ground in the middle of that decade, opportunities dwindled. His sole leader recording of the 1980s, Sparkling, surfaced on Muse in 1981, though he continued contributing as a sideman to Houston Person, Hank Crawford, and Jimmy McGriff.
Renewed fascination with the style during the 1990s prompted a return to the studio for Cannonball, yielding the 1997 release I’m a Gittar Player. Live work persisted, yet another leader project did not arrive until What You Hear Is What You Get in 2002. Three further Savant albums followed in quick succession: It Is What It Is (2004), This Is It! (2005), and Groove on Up (2006). On 15 March 2011, Sparks died at his Mt. Vernon, New York residence from complications of diabetes and heart failure; he was 64.
Demand for his improvisations surged during the closing years of the decade and the start of the next, placing him on dates led by Charles Earland, Sonny Stitt, Lou Donaldson, Rusty Bryant, Sonny Phillips, Reuben Wilson, and Johnny “Hammond” Smith. Prestige issued his debut leader date, Sparks!, in 1970; additional sessions for the label followed before he moved to Westbound for the 1975 album Melvin Sparks. As soul-jazz lost commercial ground in the middle of that decade, opportunities dwindled. His sole leader recording of the 1980s, Sparkling, surfaced on Muse in 1981, though he continued contributing as a sideman to Houston Person, Hank Crawford, and Jimmy McGriff.
Renewed fascination with the style during the 1990s prompted a return to the studio for Cannonball, yielding the 1997 release I’m a Gittar Player. Live work persisted, yet another leader project did not arrive until What You Hear Is What You Get in 2002. Three further Savant albums followed in quick succession: It Is What It Is (2004), This Is It! (2005), and Groove on Up (2006). On 15 March 2011, Sparks died at his Mt. Vernon, New York residence from complications of diabetes and heart failure; he was 64.
Albums
Live
