Forestone Reeds

John Ruocco plays Forestone reeds

John Ruocco on Forestone reeds:

"So I had these two different concerts to play in Taipei. I had three Forestone clarinet reeds and three Forestone tenor reeds. The strongest reeds strength #3 were quite soft for every mouthpiece except for the Pomarico 4 clarinet mouthpiece and the Otto Link 10* tenor mouthpiece. Finally I had a practical set up. The clarinet sound became very clear. It was like a very good wooden reed at its prime. The tenor sound was completely different than what I was used to. The horn became free blowing, with an even and dark sound throughout the registers. Now I am not a sound fanatic especially in amplified outdoor festival settings. I rather trust the engineers for the park sound and only try to feel comfortable on the podium. That means having a respectable version of what I am used to. In other words the acoustic sound sent through a microphone and back to the monitors. These reeds for two nights played fantastic. Delicate nuances were easily produced on the clarinet and the tenor reed was consistent regardless of the dynamic level. Both horns were easier to play. And these reeds were right out of the box.

The dust has settled a bit after all the traveling and vacationing done during the summer. Finally I have had a bit more time to test the reeds that I have a bit more thoroughly. Both the saxophone and clarinet reeds are just about the best synthetic reeds I have ever played. I have been using all kinds of plastic or synthetic reeds exclusively for almost 25 years. You name it and I've tried it. I use mouthpieces made from glass, hard rubber, and metal. And I use very small tip openings and very large openings. There was always a compromise between sound, response and intonation using synthetic reeds. In a way this is true using any reed. Some synthetic reeds have a harsh metallic buzz, others vibrate unevenly and stop vibrating at unpredictable moments, and others have faulty intonation. Certain reeds cannot be touched or worked on. The Forestone reeds because of the tip, the cut and the heart seem to have the best response and the biggest dynamic spectrum. They are well balanced which helps intonation between the different registers. They seem to work on mouthpieces made from any material. And, I can work on them. In comparison with the wooden reeds I have, the Forestone reed seems to have the warmest sound, resembling that of wood.

I cannot expect everyone to have as many mouthpieces as I have, so one should sample some reeds of various strengths before making a decision about which reed best suits you. For me it was a problem of finding the mouthpiece that worked with the reeds that I had at the moment. I had success and I am sure you will to."

Tenor saxophone, clarinet

Born September 18, 1952, New Haven Conn. USA

Performances with

Dizzy Gillespie, Art Farmer, Slide Hampton, Ed Soph, Beaver Harris, Barry Harris,Teddy Edwards, Toots Thielemens, Philip Catherine, Joey Baron, Billy Hart, Kenny Werner, Kenny Wheeler, John Abercrombie, Jimmy Heath John Taylor,etc...

Festivals :

Berlin, North Sea, Middelheim, Brussels, Oostende, Gouvy, Belga, Brosella,Warsaw,Prague
Bremen etc...

Radio and Television :

extensive featured appearances with Belgian National Radio and Television, French Radio, German National Radio and Television.
Peter Herbolzheimer Rhythm Combination and Brass : Cologne, West Germany, 1983 - present.
Performances and tours in France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Poland, {EUROPE}.
A special tour of Zaire, sponsored by Belgian Ministry of Culture, 1983.

Teaching

Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussels,Belgium,since1996.Saxophone and Jazz
Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag, The Netherlands. Since 1987. Saxophone and Jazz Ensemble Royal Conservatory of Music Li∂ge, Belgium. 1981-1985. Saxophone and Jazz Ensemble.
Clinics and Workshops in the USA and Europe.
Jazz Studio of Antwerp, Belgium. 1981-1989. Saxophone and Jazz Ensemble.
Summer Jazz School of Belgium. 1980-2002. Saxophone, Jazz Bands.
Bujazzo; 1991- 2007 Saxophone and Big Band
Peter Herbolzheimer workshops as assistant conductor 2007 onwards
TISJA Taiwan Summer Jazz Academy 2004 onwards

Selected Discography

* AS A LEADER : 'Soon Spring', John RUOCCO (LDH LP)
* As A Leader: 'Am I Asking To Much' John Ruocco Pirouet Records
* '20 Jahre Peter HERBOLZHEIMER RC&B Live in Concert' (Koala)
* 'Latin Groove', Peter HERBOLZHEIMER RC&B (Koala)
* 'Big Band BeBop', Peter HERBOLZHEIMER (Panda)
* 'More BeBop', Peter HERBOLZHEIMER (Koala)
* 'Music for Swinging Dancers', Vols. 1-4, Peter HERBOLZHEIMER
* 'Extremes', ACT Big Band & Guest (LDH CD)
* 'Act Big Band', F⁄lix SIMTAINE (LDH LP)
* 'Quelque Part', Charles LOOS (LDH)
* 'No, Maybe... !', Richard ROUSSELET (Jazz Cats LP/B.Sharp CD)
* 'Real Love', Christine SCHALLER (ML Car)
* 'Baseline Returns', Hein VAN DE GEYN (CHR Challenge records)
* 'Cat Walk', Philippe AERTS Trio (Igloo 116)
* 'Waiting', Peter HERTMANS (Timeless)
* 'Trios', Frank VAGANEE
* PORTRAIT OF A SILK THREAD, Dutch Jazz Orchestra
* So This Is Love, Dutch Jazz Orchestra
* Moondreams, Dutch Jazz Orchestra
* 'With A Song In My Heart,Fay Claassen(CHR)
* 'IF" ENJA Myriam Alter
* 'Back To The Old World" IGL Phillipe Aerts
* Frank VAGANE; Trio (CD 'Trios')
* "terra che cammina" Giovanni Di Domenico sr1001
* "Mimi Meimei" Chipin & Kaiya EW
* "Where Is There" Enja Myriam Alter