Melvin Sparks has been hailed as the “Essential Guitar Player,” the “Master Of The Groove,” an “Acid-Jazz Pioneer,” and one of the originators of “Boogaloo Jazz” and “Barbecue Funk.”
Sparks left his Houston, Texas home in 1964 as a member of The Upsetters, a R&B group that backed singers such as Little Richard, Johnny Taylor, Lee Dorsey, Sam Cooke, and many others. Sparks hit the New York City jazz scene in the late 1960s, making quick friends with fellow-guitarists Grant Green and George Benson and embarking on career peppered with recordings and performances with a host of jazz’s greatest musicians including Jack McDuff, David "Fathead" Newman, Jimmy McGriff, Sonny Stitt, Lou Donaldson, Hank Crawford, Reuben Wilson and “Big” John Patton. All told, Sparks has recorded seven albums as a leader and played on nearly 150 others for legendary jazz labels such as Blue Note and Prestige Records.
Sparks signature guitar work—a jazzman’s crisp technique and a soul musician’s funky rhythm—has also been sampled by countless producers; he appears on a wide range of tracks from Biggie Smalls to Madonna! Moreover, Sparks is venerated by a younger generation of musicians; bands such as Soulive, Galactic, The Greyboy Allstars, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Derek Trucks and Robert Walter's 20th Congress have recorded his music and featured him as a guest artist.
