Biography

Tim Sparks – Lost and Found

You can hear Tim Sparks think. He plays by choice not habit: ideas not licks. I've heard him do this on guitars so badly intonated, they wouldn't make a good ashtray; the same guitars - I remember a piece called Blues on Bartok Street - are guitars in Tim's hands. Beautiful. I'm Tim Sparks' biggest fan. His stuff is very difficult to play but it doesn't sound difficult. I think that's real musicianship. He's really one of the best musicians I know." LEO KOTTKE
Tim Sparks garnered 5 stars in Downbeat for his Tzadik disc Tanz. Now on Lost and Found he brews up a gumbo of Jazz, Gypsy, and Roadhouse flavors.

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A guitarist for all seasons and ethnicities, the North Carolina-reared, Minnesota resident is celebrating a new CD, “Lost and Found.” Accompanied by bassist Ted Olsen and acoustic guitarist Ben Abrahamson, Sparks interprets tunes by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Dave Brubeck and others as well as offering three originals, including the title track (which he wrote back in the Rio Nido days). Although many of these numbers are overly familiar, acoustic wiz Sparks offers a fresh take because he plays with the the precision of a classical guitarist, the inventiveness of a jazz man and the passion of a folk musician — Jon Bream, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Without a question, Tim Sparks is a voracious explorer of the guitar. Growing up surrounded by American roots music in his home state of North Carolina, Tim took an early turn toward studying classical guitar, and by the time he pulled into Minneapolis in the early 1970s, he was ready to immerse himself in the Twin Cities’ jazz scene, where he’d make his mark as a member of the acclaimed Rio Nido ensemble. Having synthesized his wide-ranging musical interests, Tim catapulted himself onto the international scene with his arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite in 1993. Published by the prestigious Guitar Solo label, the recording was featured on his Acoustic Music Records debut of the same title, and it also helped him take home the first prize at the National Fingerpicking Championship the same year. As impressive as the Tchaikovsky portion of the album is, it was Tim’s own “Balkan Dreams Suite” that was also featured on the disc that established him as a force to be reckoned with when it comes to creative solo guitar. Indeed, in the 30 years since releasing The Nutcracker Suite, Tim has continued to feed his appetite for the guitar with an ever-expanding palette of influences. He further explored traditions of the Balkan region, arranged klezmer music, worked out music by innovative saxophonist and new music icon John Zorn, took a side-trip into transcribing more classical Russian composers for steel-string guitar, all the while diving deeper into the blues. Naturally, Tim is also a globe-trotting performer who is as comfortable playing Hungarian guitar festivals, being a regular guest on International Guitar Night tours, or doing a stint opening shows for country star Dolly Parton.

The reason I’m reflecting on Tim’s career is because Lost and Found represents everything that I’ve come to admire him for. Listening to the title track, I had to look to make sure it wasn’t a standard I wasn’t familiar with, because the tune, an original going back to his Rio Nido days, could easily be one. Before going on, I need to introduce the trio format that is featured on the majority of the album: Working with bassist Ted Olsen and nylon-string guitarist Ben Abrahamson (both young lions of the Twin Cities music scene), Tim is able to simultaneously stretch out and play more sparsely than he would in the solo context that he’s worked in so often. Olsen anchors the trio with his gorgeous acoustic upright tone, while Abrahamson’s flamenco-inspired playing and classical guitar tone provides a wonderful counterpart to Tim’s signature steel-string voice (it should be noted that Tim’s use of an acoustic archtop guitar by Minnesota luthier Tim Reede is an excellent choice for this project!). I have had the privilege of experiencing Tim’s encouragement as a musician, and also his ability to elevate, rather than dominate, those who he plays with, and as such, I’m not surprised that Abrahamson’s role on Lost as Found is that of an equal. As such, the arrangements are what great guitar duos strive to do, which is to create interlocking parts that result in a whole that is greater than the exercise of taking turns between playing rhythm and lead. This approach is especially evident on Paul Desmond’s “Take Five,” which—while also featuring ferocious solos by each guitarist—serves as a fine example of joyous interplay and supporting a tune’s melody. Abrahamson’s flamenco-tinged intro to the Beatles’ “Michelle” gives an unexpected flavor to the familiar tune, and while the album’s emphasis is on the interpretation of well-known songs, Tim’s own “Moonshine Ramble,” and Jerry Reed’s “The Claw” demonstrate his ability to inject his singular solo guitar style into country-blues style fingerpicking.

True to Tim’s characteristic commitment to putting the music first, Lost and Found manages to be a vessel for some of the finest fingerstyle guitar playing around, but “Guitar” is far from the only category to file it under.

Teja Gerken
Guitarist
Co-Founder of Peghead Nation
Guitar journalist


Accompanied by upright bass and classical guitar, fingerstyle guitar master Tim Sparks weaves his signature steel-string playing through a gorgeous instrumental set of familiar songs, jazz standards, and blazing country-blues tunes. Lost and Found features some of the finest acoustic guitar playing you’ll ever hear, yet “Guitar” is far from the only category to file it under.