''Guitar Bazaar'' is the second solo recording by

Tim Sparks Tim Sparks (born October 31, 1954) is an American Steel-string guitar, acoustic guitar player, singer, arranger and composer. Life Raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he was given his first guitar when a bout of encephalitis kept him out of ...

on the Acoustic Music Records label, released in 1995.

History

After a journey to Hungary, Yugoslavia and Bosnia in the late 1980s, Sparks began an interest in Eastern European music. He began playing in various world music groups and immersed himself in various styles. He has described ''Guitar Bazaar'' as a fusion of Middle Eastern and American roots music. The album includes arrangements of

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

's Romanian Dances. It was this album that

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conducting, conductor, saxophonist, arrangement, arranger and record producer, producer who "deliberately resists category". His Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimental music, ex ...

heard that led to Sparks' recording of his series of albums for

Tzadik Records Tzadik is a record label in New York City that specializes in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a not-for-p ...

Reception

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' was an American magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francis ...

'' wrote in their review, "If you're getting complacent about your acoustic fingerpicking, you'd better hear Tim Sparks' new CD... There's nothing forced or studied about his playing or compositions: his intense, on-the-edge attack speaks of many nights wailing around campfires in places most of us have never heard of."

Track listing

All compositions by Tim Sparks. # "Bach-n-Aliya" – 5:08 # "The Rain Beggar" – 6:21 # "Guitar Bazaar" – 3:17 # "Sleeping Giant" – 9:15 # "Chasing the Dragon" – 4:40 # "Rumanian Folk Dances" – 5:19 # "It's Greek to Me" – 5:28 # "Sailing to Byzantium" – 4:32 # "Dr. Smedvig's Berzerka" – 3:40

Personnel

*Tim Sparks - acoustic guitar *Tim O'Keefe - frame drum, harmonica, doumbec *Jim Price - violin *Mark Stillman - accordion *Yanaris Asimakes - bouzouki

Production notes

*Produced by Tim Sparks and Jay M. Fleming *Executive producer -

Peter Finger Peter Finger (born 11 October 1954) is a German acoustic fingerstyle guitarist, songwriter, composer and record producer. His most notable recordings include "Just Another Day in May", "Vielleicht Im Nächsten Leben", "Fanesca", "For You", "101 S ...

*Engineered by Jay Fleming

References

{{Authority control 1995 albums Tim Sparks albums