The new Rico Reserve Classic clarinet reeds designed by Mark Nuccio of the New York Philharmonic are the best cane reed I’ve ever played. The cane itself is as fine a quality as I’ve ever seen and Mark’s design is responsive, warm and ringing in sound with superb articulation. I gave all my other reeds away….what more can I say? I mentioned them to the divine Erika Block a few days ago…and she was already on them!

Even more exciting…there is a Bass Clarinet version and I’m awaiting samples to test.

….and….my samples of the new Legere Alto Sax Signature reeds arrived two days ago. They are as magic as the Tenor reeds and I have 42 more of them on the way!

I really cannot find a reed I like as much on saxophone as Légère. It started with Bari sax reeds…there is no good cane Bari reed, in my opinion. I’m not one of those players who complains about reeds. I get 8 out 10 performance reeds out of a box through good seasoning and simple adjustments. There are lots of good manufacturers and Rico in particular has come a long way in the past few years. Tom Alexander’s Superial reeds have been a revelation. South America and Australia have started producing decent cane. Vandoren has always been the industry standard for me, though, and I’ve always circled back to them…but no more…not on saxophone.

I carry every premium reed in my studio, and all my students and all the players in Sax Noir have chosen Légère. It sure is nice to spend every lesson teaching saxophone instead of adjusting reeds (although I hasten to add I would never choose a reed out of convenience, only for sound.)

No one makes a good bari sax reed except Légère. They are either a poor design or poor cane or both. So, I changed to Légère on Bari and eventually all the other saxophones followed. Robust, dark, warm, clear and fantastic stability in the upper register. Great articulation. I did not miss the “grain” of a cane reed on saxophone, although I do on clarinet. Then Légère issued the Signature Clarinet reeds, and they are so much like cane that it is spooky!

Now come the Signature Tenor sax reeds, and as much as I have liked the standard product, these babies are amazing. I did not feel that the slightly grainy woody sound of cane was essential for the saxophone sound, but now that these synthetic reeds have a touch of that, they are even nicer. I just cannot wait for the Soprano, Alto, Bari, Bass Clarinet and Eb clarinet versions!

FYI, they play 1/4 strength softer than Vandoren Blue Box.

Well, I’ve done the unthinkable…loaned an instrument! An emergency for a fellow Conn Selmer artist who is playing the opera this week, the amazing Francois Houle. He had borrowed a bass clarinet that cracked in rehearsal and I loaned him my spare. It is an amazing instrument only slightly less stunning than my main bass…both are Selmer Privilege models, the best two out of the six that showed up to the Vancouver Clarinetfest a couple of years ago. Hope it lasts the run of the show!

Francois says it is a freaking Ferrari. He took a couple of Legere signature reeds with him and reports they are working great. David Branter, another legend playing the show, was over a few days earlier and took some tenor and bari sax Legere reeds with him, also appreciating them. What I appreciated was David’s Rousseau 6R Bari mouthpiece, so I ordered four of them.

The Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the Vancouver Saxophone Ensemble are joining forces for the Joy of Sax concert at Evergreen Cultural Center in February. I’m a member of both ensembles, playing bass clarinet with PSWE and baritone sax with VSE. However, my student James Chen who plays bari with PSWE cannot make the gig, so I am covering his part, and my colleague Jamie Henderson from the sax ensemble will be the guest bass clarinetist with PSWE.

It was wierd indeed to hear someone else on the part at rehearsal last night. Despite the sax section being featured in this performance, I felt a twinge of regret. After 24 years as PSWE’s low clarinetist, that voice just feels like it should be mine!

I own several of the finest clarinets in the world, possibly one set is THE finest…my orchestral A&Bb matched set of cocobolo Legacy clarinets put together for me personally by Morrie Backun. However, since I purchased the new Leblanc by Backun Bliss clarinet yesterday, I cannot put it down. This is priced at an intermediate student level, but it is NOT a student clarinet. Julian Bliss, the young internationally recognized clarinet star, who co-designed the instrument and plays encores on it at his concerts calls it “wicked.” It is also SEXY. A professional calibre instrument at an unbelievable price. I’ve got a recital coming up in November and I too will use the Bliss for my encore. ‘Nuff said.

I just met Amy last week. She is the new interim bass clarinetist for the New York Philharmonic. We went to dinner with friends from Backun Musical Services and then I popped in on her and Morrie the next afternoon. Her small clarinets were in clamps after repadding, but her bass was finished up and she was just checking it out. She sounded marvelous, really warm full tone and unbelievable fluidity. She tried out one of my Backun wooden bass bells and was just floored…ended up leaving her bell behind for a conversion.

I got a lesson from her based on material from legendary teacher David Weber that focussed on listening to the connections beteween notes on extremely slow chromatic scales and arpeggios…played so slowly with fingers like “pressing into a sponge” that you can hear the “gliss” between each note. She has amazing ears and I’ve never listened so hard to note connections in my life. It brought a whole new meaning to slow and deliberate practice…and it is what leads to that incredible fluidity. As Amy says, “It’s not in the fingers, it’s in the air.”

Expecting more of the same from Jessica Phillips of the Metropolitan Opera orchestra on the small clarinets in August. These are the lessons that you can chew on for years.

The Rousseau VCC Sax Workshop is done for another year, and that marks the beginning of my summer. No teaching, no repertoire (except for some chamber music with the Best Coast Basses and Roy & Jewal.) I can just work on me! Will be getting a lesson from Jessica Phillips (clarinetist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Amy Zoloto (bass clarinet with the New York Philharmonic) so will be focussing mostly on clarinet and bass clarinet this summer. Will also be trying out the new Vandoren V12 Alto sax reeds on saxophone and on alto clarinet.

Am also looking forward to both a synthetic and wooden Leblanc by Backun Bliss clarinet within the next few weeks and will sell my original Leblanc Cadenza model.

PSWE just played it’s season finale last night at the Kay Meek Centre. What a great hall. The musicians could really hear each other very well and the feedback from musician’s in the audience was also very positive. Branter took John William’s “The Cowboys” at heretofore unapproached tempos and it rocked. Copland’s The Red Pony suite was wonderful, especially Donella Robb’s clarinet solos. Great finale to the season. We are just going to accompany a choral festival in June (not really OUR gig) and then it is a wrap.

My web manager Brayden set me up to blog, post gigs and add pictures to the sites over a year ago and I am finally getting around to all of this…guess it is good to be that busy!

Right now busy practing Bass Clarinet for the upcoming PSWE Movie theme concert, alto and baritone sax for the Rousseau master class (Paquito d’Rivera Two Dances on alto, Poulenc Oboe/Bassoon Trio transcribed for soprano and bari sax), and clarinet with Roy Sluyter piano and Jewal Maxwell for a recital in the fall.

The studio has had a flood of talented young female students who are inspiring me. Good thing, because I will be sorely missing working with Elvin Chang who is graduating this spring. He is off to play with the International Honors Wind Ensemble at Lincoln Center in New York in a few weeks and then we will play together at the Rousseau Master Class in June.