Just three months before guitarist Melvin Sparks died on March 15, 2011 at age 64, he recorded at a club in Burlington, Vt., called Nectar's, a club that's still there today (go here). Sparks was backed by members of his working trio—organist Beau Sasser and drummer Bill Carbone. But on this night, he added alto saxophonist Dave Grippo and tenor saxophonist Brian McCarthy. It had been several years since Sparks had last used horns.
Now this live date has been released as Live at Nectar's (One Note) in the digital and vinyl formats. According to the credits, it was recorded on Dec. 30, 2010 by Caleb Bronz , a working drummer based in Burlington. According to the liner notes by Carbone, Caleb had the approval of Sparks and Nectar's co-owner Alex Budney. It seems the recording was a favor to Sparks, since the credits thank Sparks's family for "making the album possible." [Photo above courtesy of Nectar's]
Sparks, of course, was one of the leading guitarists of the soul-jazz movement starting in the mid-1960s. Born in Houston, Sparks started playing guitar at 11 and began working as a professional musician in high school with Hank Ballard and the Midnighters and then Little Richard's Upsetters, Little Richard's touring band in the 1950s. Sparks moved to New York in the late '60s to work and record with Lou Donaldson's band. He released his first leadership album Sparks! (Prestige) in 1970. From there, Sparks recorded on a long string of soul-jazz gems for Prestige and other labels. His great strength was powerful rhythm playing and soulful solos.
On Live at Nectar's, the quintet recorded Leon Spencer Jr.'s Miss Riverside, the Four Tops' hit Ain't No Woman (Like the One I Got), Rusty Bryant and Jerry Taylor's Fire Eater, Sparks' Cranberry Sunshine, Bobby Womack's Breezin' and Sparks' funky Whip! Whop!.
The sound on this album is fantastic, and the soul-jazz is just the way it was back in the early 1970s. It has heat, energy and lots of soul, with Sparks taking lyrical guitar solos and laying down a thick mattress of rhythm when the horns are soloing. This previously unreleased live album is a worthy addition to the soul-jazz canon and further evidence of Sparks's stirring role in the movement.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Melvin Sparks' Live at Nectar's (One Note) here.
JazWax clip: Here's Ain't No Woman (Like the One I Got)...
And here's Breezin'...
