Saturday, July 19th, 2025, 5:00 PM – House of Hard Bop.
John Ruocco (tenor sax, clarinet) moved from the US to Europe in the 1980s. He settled in The Hague, where he taught at the Royal Conservatory and took charge of the Big Band. He also taught at the conservatories of Brussels and Liège and lead workshops in various locations in Europe, the US, and Asia.
As a musician, Ruocco was among the world’s top performers: he performed alongside Dizzy Gillespie, Art Farmer, Toots Thielemans, and Billy Hart. In the Netherlands, he played clarinet in the Dutch Jazz Orchestra, the orchestra for which he arranged and later became its leader.
This hour focuses on his trio work from 1999. Afterwards, you’ll hear him as a soloist with the Dutch Jazz Orchestra, conducted by Jerry van Rooyen. Ruocco performed regularly with his “Belgian” trio: bassist Jean-Louis Rassinfosse and drummer Félix Simtaine. In 1999, this trio performed in Monster, at Max Bolleman’s Studio 44. The album they recorded there wasn’t released until 2007, under the title A Ghost of a Chance. Ruocco plays tenor sax in a series of standards.
Forgoing a chordal instrument, piano, or guitar, places greater demands on the bassist. The bassist can make the harmonic progression—and thus the transitions between the formal movements—audible, “beneath” the soloist’s improvisational fantasies. Here, we hear Rassinfosse’s bass almost “next to” Ruocco’s sax. And what a musician! The beautiful timbre he plucks from his instrument remains clear even in the lowest register. And not every bassist uses vibrato for sustained notes. His rhythmic liberties, scaling to a melodic/contrapuntal function, creating a false two-part harmony on his instrument, but also his swinging four-in-time… it’s all a feast for the ears.
Drummer Félix Simtaine sounds a bit further back in the soundscape. In almost all the pieces, he solos in the form of trading fours/eights. But sometimes he’s given a larger role, as in “When You Wish Upon a Star,” more on that later.
John Ruocco elicits a unique color from his tenor sax. He often produces elastic, bending notes—a characteristic he shares with bassist Rassinfosse. He uses many notes to express himself in improvisations—as in a ballad like “Stardust,” where he lays out the theme in a relaxed manner. The listener who sticks with him won’t be disappointed.
The playlist is well-balanced. For example, the breakneck tempo of “Cherokee” is followed by the ballad “Stardust.” Of course, some standards get their own twist. Take “When You Wish Upon a Star,” for example. This song, from the Disney animated film Pinocchio, features an introductory duet between tenor and drums. It’s played at a free tempo. You think: where is this going? But then suddenly, the song is there. In the final stages, it goes off the rails again.
Concentrated listening recommended!
In 2002, the album “Something to Live For – The Music of Billy Strayhorn” (The Dutch Jazz Orchestra conducted by Jerry van Rooyen) was released. From this album, you’ll hear the song “Everything Is Copasetic,” featuring John Ruocco on clarinet.
On drums: Eric Ineke.
TRIO
1. I’m Getting Sentimental about You
2. What I’ll Do
3.A Ghost of a Chance
4. When You Wish Upon a Star
5. Sweet Lorraine
6.Cherokee
7. Stardust
8. Blues in the Night
DUTCH JAZZ ORCHESTRA *
Everything is copasetic
House of Hard Bop – Eric Ineke
John Ruocco died on May 21st, 2025, in The Hague.
