Bobby Sparks II - Schizophrenia: The Yang Project (2019)

A funk opera masterpiece! This extraordinarily diverse collection of tunes captures the full range of keyboardist Bobby Sparks' expansive vocabulary and inexhaustible spirit. Featuring bassists Marcus Miller and Pino Palladino, the late trumpeter Roy Hargrove, Snarky Puppy's Michael League and guitarist Eric Gales. Sparks has previously worked with Prince, Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, Tower of Power, Marcus Miller, Ray Charles, George Benson, Roy Hargrove, Snarky Puppy and St. Vincent, among many others. From slamming funk to slow-grooving soul ballads to forays into straight ahead jazz, fusion, orchestral and world music, his aptly-titled 'Schizophrenia - The Yang Project' covers a myriad of bases. On board the Battlespark Galactica for the exhilarating ride is a host of his Dallas homies as well as a parade of all-stars, including bassists Marcus Miller, Pino Palladino, MonoNeon and Hadrien Feraud, the late trumpeter Roy Hargrove, singers Frank McComb and James "J. Rob" Robinson, Snarky Puppy's Michael League and Jason "JT" Thomas, guitarists Lucky Peterson and Eric Gales and drummers Mark Simmons, Brannen Temple and John "Li'l John" Roberts. The influences of Bernie Worrell and P-Funk, George Duke, Stevie Wonder, D'Angelo, Dizzy Gillespie and other key figures in Sparks' long musical journey come to bear on this ambitious project, his first as a leader. An inspiring set of music that has finally come to fruition after a successful 20 years of supporting and influencing music of many genre, 'Schizophrenia - The Yang Project' is Bobby Sparks II's crowning achievement in an outstanding career.

Bobby Sparks II: keyboards, synthesizers, Hammond B3 organ; Roy Hargrove, Michael "Patches" Stewart: trumpet; Keith Anderson: tenor saxophone; Lucky Peterson, Eric Gales: guitar; Hadrien Feraud, Marcus Miller, Foley, Pino Palladino, Michael League: bass guitar; John "Li'l John" Roberts: drums; Frank McComb: vocals and many others.