Run, don’t walk, to the Sasparilla page and check out the just-posted recording of the Florida State Wind Ensemble — conducted by the always-masterful Richard Clary — performing Sasparilla in November. If you’ve heard the piece before, I encourage you to check it out again, as this recording is pretty off-the hook. The inclusion of the accordion — at last! — makes a huge difference, and the tenor sax player in the “brothel solo” is just plain smokin’.

When I wrote the tenor sax solo, I notated the solo in full — and literally — and it makes it very tricky to read. (I was trying to transcribe what I wish I could have played myself, but not being a sax player, of course I couldn’t.) Somehow, this guy managed to play the part as though he was improvising it and I had simply transcribed what he played — and that’s exactly how I wanted it to sound. It sounds free and improvisatory, even though all of those little inflections were actually written down in advance. It was a big thrill to hear it this way. I think he’s also growling or something to get that raw and vulgar tone out of it. Wow, I love it. If anybody knows who played this solo, please tell me. Damn. Wow.

(By the way — if you happened to hear the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony’s performance at Midwest last week, the sax solo was missing, as it had to be cut due to program length. If you only heard the piece last week, I especially encourage you to check out the sax solo in the new recording.)

I’ll post the Midwest debrief tomorrow (complete with photos), but the new “Sasparilla” MP3 should give you something to entertain yourself until then!