Sparks!

Sparks!
Studio album by Melvin Sparks
Released	1970
Recorded	September 14, 1970; Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs
Genre	Jazz
Label	Prestige ; PR 10001
Producer	Bob Porter
Melvin Sparks chronology

Last updated February 23, 2019

Sparks! is the debut album by soul jazz guitarist Melvin Sparks recorded for the Prestige label in 1970.^[1]

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.

Prestige Records American jazz record label

Prestige Records is a jazz record company and label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock in New York City. The company recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under subsidiaries. In 1971, the company was sold to Fantasy, which was later absorbed by Concord.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[2]

The Allmusic site awarded the album 3 stars calling it "A solid soul-jazz outing that looks to commercial material for the bulk of the set, but doesn't unduly compromise itself in a pop direction... commercial choices, to be sure, but executed with relaxed grit".^[2]

Track listing

"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" (Sly Stone) - 8:08
"I Didn't Know What Time It Was" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) - 6:35
"Charlie Brown" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) - 5:55
"The Stinker" (Leon Spencer) - 7:00
"Spill the Wine" (Papa Dee Allen, Harold Ray Brown, B.B. Dickerson, Lonnie Jordan, Charles Miller, Lee Oskar, Howard Scott) - 11:10

Personnel

Melvin Sparks - guitar
Virgil Jones - trumpet
John Manning, Houston Person (tracks 3 & 4) - tenor saxophone
Leon Spencer - organ
Idris Muhammad - drums

The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that usually has six strings. It is typically played with both hands by strumming or plucking the strings with either a guitar pick or the finger(s)/fingernails of one hand, while simultaneously fretting with the fingers of the other hand. The sound of the vibrating strings is projected either acoustically, by means of the hollow chamber of the guitar, or through an electrical amplifier and a speaker.

A trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group contains the instruments with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpet-like instruments have historically been used as signaling devices in battle or hunting, with examples dating back to at least 1500 BC; they began to be used as musical instruments only in the late 14th or early 15th century. Trumpets are used in art music styles, for instance in orchestras, concert bands, and jazz ensembles, as well as in popular music. They are played by blowing air through nearly-closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound that starts a standing wave vibration in the air column inside the instrument. Since the late 15th century they have primarily been constructed of brass tubing, usually bent twice into a rounded rectangular shape.

Houston Person is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and record producer. Although he has performed in the hard bop and swing genres, he is most experienced in and best known for his work in soul jazz. He received the Eubie Blake Jazz Award in 1982.

Production

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References

↑ Prestige Records discography accessed May 22, 2013
1 2 Unterberger, R. Allmusic listing accessed May 22, 2013.

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[1] Prestige Records discography accessed May 22, 2013

[Allmusic-2] 1 2 Unterberger, R. Allmusic listing accessed May 22, 2013.