Spark Studios Closes

Anton Schwartz writes about the recent closing of the Spark recording studios in Emeryville.

One of the great recording studios in the Bay Area turned out its lights yesterday [May 18]. Spark (www.sparkworld.com), located in Emeryville, was a gordeous studio with resonant acoustics and an outrageous 9 foot Yamaha grand. It sold its location to Pixar. The owner, Tony Mills, will continue to do some work - mostly video and post-production, a little audio tracking - out of his home studio in Rockridge. Among the fine albums recorded there was Mark Levine's 2003 grammy-nominated recording "ISLA". I recorded there only once - my 2004 release "Holiday Time" (www.antonjazz.com/cd.html).