Comment by thereallyniceman on December 8, 2012 at 10:07

I have seen this man on Youtube, but can find little about him except that he is a French guitarist. He had a website which now does not work.  I can't quite get to grips with his playing as  somehow it seems just too easy and possibly electronically altered!!

Anyone have any information about Mr Sparkes?

Comment by Mike Moss on December 8, 2012 at 11:52

Yes, I too was surprised when I noticed his videos on Youtube some time ago. I'm afraid I don't know anything about him. Perhaps Marc Dalmasso or the Stefanellis know something about him?

Comment by Trapdoor2 on December 8, 2012 at 15:50

I don't know anything about him. Never saw him before. His style looks very comfortable, obviously been playing the banjo for quite some time. It looks like he's using fingerpicks to me...but hard to tell. There are some "jumps" in his video which cause me to suspect he's had to do some editing to remove mistakes. Not unusal.

Some people just look like they're floating along when playing. It all looks so easy and comfortable. I knew a guitar player like that. He played the most complicated stuff...but looked like he was falling asleep. This guy's hands remind me of him...no stress showing, no bulging veins or frantic grasps on the handle; just floating along the neck. I wish I could do that.

Comment by Richard William Ineson on December 8, 2012 at 20:38

He got in touch with me some time ago, I sent him the sheet music for 'Parke Hunter's Walt' (the last letter of the alphabet is missing on my keyboard) which he played magnificently, and he helped me out with the score of 'The Lost Indian' he is certainly a very good player. I think that he may have just attended the ABF event in the USA.

Comment by marc dalmasso on December 9, 2012 at 22:01

No ; éric or me , we do not know him ; i have read somewhere he is an american guy living in France ; he is probably a classical guitar player with a good level and loving the bj . may be a friend of jean marc A  , too , who had leaved a good feedback on " blaze away " yet  ..... the sequencer beeing programmed  " binaire " for a 6/8 ;strange , and the bass line not the good one at the start , strange too .

How much  sound editings in these videos ? hard to say but when Bill Keith used to record " nola " for  the French  label Cezame around 1980 , the French flatpicker  C L., also a sound engineer told us  that this version was a puzzle from 40 audio files extracted from 6 or 7
versions recorded by Bill and pasted by  himself ..

Comment by Becky R. Schneider on January 24, 2013 at 2:51

Late to the party - as usual.  Just an update here, but yes, I have met Edwin Sparkes.  He is  a gifted musical talent with life and sensitivity in his performances.  His work and techniques are flawless and inspiring to all who have the opportunity to hear him.  Edwin and his wife Angela attended the Oct. 2012 ABF Rally held in Utica, New York, U.S.A.  He presented a program of classic banjo pieces while attending the rally and impressed all who were in the audience.  Edwin and Angela are charming and delightful people with so much sparkle in their eyes you can't help but want to spend more time with them.  Regards, Becky

Comment by Richard William Ineson on August 1, 2013 at 11:31

You know me, full of spark and joie de vivre, what are we waiting for?

Comment by David Wade on August 3, 2013 at 6:21

Not so far from Pembrokeshire to Backwell, Penny - maybe we will see you there?

Comment by David Wade on August 3, 2013 at 9:55

Not as far as Leeds or Scarborough or Manchester. Rally starts at noon see info elsewhere on the site.

Comment by Richard William Ineson on August 3, 2013 at 10:34

How nice of you to remember an old geezer like me Penny, and such kind words too. I must admit that I am one of those banjo players from the 'kick and rush' school of banjo playing, it comes from doing much of my playing in boozers where the essential point was to make yourself heard, no place for musical niceties unfortunately. I do pull myself up occasionally and try for the sotto voce and the rallentando, and other things like that, but, the  treble forte is engrained in my playing so it is difficult to overcome. The bloke who taught me is to blame, I used to come away from my lesson with my head ringing, he called it 'stage playing' he could have made himself heard in front of a 40 piece orchestra at the Albert Hall. Pembroke is not too far away, I might find myself in the area, my sister lives near Abergavenny and I once had a very convivial afternoon in a pub in Lamphey, also, I have an old tureen with a picture of Stackpole on it and I've always wanted to take a look at the place, although I think that  the house has been demolished. As to combined reasons to go to Backwell, well, there's the banjo playing, and there' ll be people selling banjos and banjo music and then there's the beer and a bit more banjo playing. There is a music festival on at the same time in Backwell but they have asked us to perform so it can't be all bad. Do your relatives in Somerset have any interest in the banjo at all?

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