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What a great time at the Wetlands last night! The renowned club
plays host to myriad of big events to varying result, but every once
in a while you find yourself in the "Wetlands Zone" where the music
is darn near perfect, the sound is darn near perfect, the crowd size
(and constituency) is darn near perfect and (guess what) your
evening is darn near perfect. Last night the club played host to the
big birthday bash of the ubiquitous Melvin Sparks. As much as the Wetlands Preserve is a staple of the NYC live-music scene - so is Melvin. This "master of groove" is sure to rear his head at all-star jams as well as sitting in with all sorts of bands playing the area. Most notably, he has been seen adding some serious chops to several Karl Denson shows the past couple of years. I consider myself lucky to be able
to catch a guy like Melvin Sparks in New York and lament the rest
of the world for not getting a chance to share in his magical guitar
prowess as regularly as we do here. Believe me, if you've seen
Melvin play you would have no doubt that he is THE MAN! With
that being said, you can see why there would be any hullabaloo
about this zen groovester's 55th birthday. And hullabaloo there
was...
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If you took a picture
of the stage last night at the Wetlands, that picture would be worth
a thousand funky riffs as well. This had to be one of the finer
collections of old school groovy cats I've ever seen. These guys
had groove jazz names like Melvin Sparks (guitar), Leo Saxton (what else, saxophone), Bernard "Pretty" Purdie (drums), Leon Spencer (Hammond B-3 organ), Stanley Banks (bad ass BASS), and others. I mean with names like those, these guys had no choice but to spend their lives providing the grooviest music you've ever heard. And these guys dress like groovy cats - from hats to shoes, you just look at these guys and expect the music to get down to it. Even their beards and glasses scream funky. And these guys move around like groovy cats - oh, if you could have seen the way Stanley Banks moved his happy body as if he himself were the head on the woofer thumping with each note on his bass.
Most importantly, these guys made some damn, fine groovy music. They stuck to the basics. They played what they know because they know it so well. There are many bands out there who purport to play groove and funk, but these guys practically invented the genre. There were no bells and whistles, no twists or surprises - just body-bobbing, good time music.
First of all, there is Melvin. Long, flowing, gorgeous staccato lines of the cleanest, funkiest music you could ever want. He is like the Jerry Garcia of groove guitar - in style and stature. 55 years ago he may have been born sitting on a stool with Gibson in hand looking for a gig. Pretty Purdie on the drums is rock solid in tempo provisions with quick, perfect fills and a great ear. Leon Spencer, and later Reuben Wilson (and a guy they called George
Papageorge) kept the B-3 humming to the hilt. For me, the revelation of the night was Stanley Banks, the bassist from George Benson's band. I know I overuse superlatives in these reviews - most, best, worst - but this guy is easily one of the funkiest mofo's I've ever heard. He hopped on stage and was just playing this straight up bass line when all of the sudden the room starting shaking with these incredible fills. I was completely dumbfounded.
This was a band that knew it's place. It never went over the top and it never really brought it down at all. Even keel, efficient grooving where every note, every drum beat, every chord was perfect. They stuck to some stock material - almost every song was recognizable. They opened with a couple of Leon Spencer tunes which were enjoyable but just seemed like warm-ups. After these two, Banks took the stage and that's where the fun really began. George Benson's "On Broadway" turned the heat up - killer from beginning to end. After a couple songs in that form, Melvin welcomed Jen Durkin (formerly of Deep Banana Blackout) to the stage. It was just about that time when some vocals were needed and she infused the stage with her energy and soulful belting on "Rock Steady," "Standing on Shaky Ground" and "Respect." Her singing was just one more facet of the tremendous groove the band was already laying down. These guys were such professionals that they just adapted to her presence on stage and wrapped her up with gorgeously funky backing. "Respect" cut-off with a guitar-shaped cake and "Happy Birthday" singing (and then some happy birthday rapping from Spark's energetic daughter).
The night went on with a few other musicians rotating into the mix, including Barry Urick (drums), Joe Herbeck (alto saxophone) as well as Reuben Wilson and Big George (B-3). James Brown's "Cold Sweat," the funky "Do a Little Dance" and the oft-covered Gershwin classic "Summertime" were among the highlights of the second set repertoire. Each song followed a time-tested formula of round-robin soloing from all with solid, funky backing at all times. You could easily ignore the lead at any time and zero in on the electrifying drums, chunky bass lines and sizzling rhythm work of Sparks. The solos were dead-on and the band reacted to each other like seasoned pros - starting and stopping with a simple head-nod. Even when there was a slight slip-up in the playing, the band reacted so quickly you could barely even tell.
"Summertime" was one of the true highlights. It was one of a couple of times when Melvin sang for us. It followed the general path and then seemed to extend itself even further to the point where the entire band immersed itself in a full-out jam. "Do A Little Dance" was another time where the formula got flipped and what seemed like a simple dance number went into some groove-oriented exploratory regions. Sparks' daughter returned to the stage and joined forces with Durkin to add vocal life to the song. She rapped and Durkin sang and in the context of these masters it all came out of the speakers grinning ear to ear.
I think I used the word "groove" 1000 times here, but what I can say? A picture of Melvin Sparks is worth a 1000 grooves. Happy Birthday Melvin - I'm looking forward to getting down with
you again for #60!
Aaron Stein
JamBase NYC Correspondent
Go See Live Music!
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