John Mackey: Sasparilla (2005)

John Mackey (b. 1973)
John Mackey (he/him) has written for orchestras (Brooklyn Philharmonic, New York Youth Symphony), theater (Dallas Theater Center), and extensively for dance (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Parsons Dance Company, New York City Ballet), but the majority of his work for the past decade has been for wind ensembles (the fancy name for concert bands), and his band catalog now receives annual performances numbering in the thousands.

Recent commissions include works for the BBC Singers, the Dallas Wind Symphony, military, high school, middle school, and university bands across America and Japan, and concertos for Joseph Alessi (principal trombone, New York Philharmonic), Christopher Martin (principal trumpet, New York Philharmonic), and Julian Bliss (international clarinet soloist). In 2014, he became the youngest composer ever inducted into the American Bandmasters Association. In 2018, he received the Wladimir & Rhoda Lakond Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He resides in San Francisco, California, with his spouse, A. E. Jaques, a philosopher who works on the ethics of artificial intelligence for MIT, and also titles all of his pieces; and their cats, Noodle and Bloop.

Sasparilla (2005)
Sasparilla is my first “fully original” work for wind ensemble. I’d written one other wind piece prior to this (Redline Tango), but that was a transcription of an orchestra work. With Sasparilla, the primary request from the commissioning consortium was to write something “new for band,” so I approached the piece with the goal of writing something that took advantage of the wonderful sounds than only a concert band can make.

“Sasparilla” was a type of liquor served in saloons in the Old West. It has since become a non-alcoholic root beer-like beverage, and if the listener happens to be under the age of 21, I suggest you choose the latter description. Whether it be from bad liquor or terribly funky soda, Sasparilla tells the tale of an Old West saloon, and the specific tale seems to vary, depending on the listener. Some hear a pony who drinks from a fermented trough and goes on a joyride to Tijuana. Some hear a cowboy who can’t hold his drink. Some suggest the Old West as viewed through the eyes of the old Warner Brothers cartoons.

Regarding the spelling ... although I would never be one to win a spelling bee, I realize that the “correct” spelling is “sarsaparilla,” but there are two other slangified spellings -- “sarsparilla” and the one I’ve chosen, “sasparilla.” Although only one would win you a spelling bee, “sasparilla” looked best in print!

- Program Note by composer

Instrumentation
for Wind Ensemble

Performer
United States Air Force Band of Mid-America
Conducted by Donald E. Schofield, Jr.

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