Hi Lee!
One of the challenging areas - which reeds to play! Here is a good chart of currently available reeds - highlighting their different strengths:
http://www.saxophon-service.de/shop/z_57.htm The important thing is to get the strength right, and choose a reliable brand as some boxes may contain reeds which are difficult to get a decent sound out of. If we stick with Rico for a moment, most folks find Rico Royals play well enough and are safe to start. More folks rate the Rico Jazz Selects more highly and I would recommend them too. Probably a 2 or 2.5 (2S or 2M) strength should be fine - too soft and your reed may close too easily, too hard and you may have to really blow hard to get a note out of it.
Reeds have different cuts: I note 3 that seem in common useage.
1. French Cut/Filed. These go from thick in the middle of the reed to thin at the end. Ideal for Classical music, and mouthpieces which have a shorter window which curves more sharply to the mouthpiece tip - hence the flexible end.
2. American Cut/Filed. A reed which is not as thick in the middle and not as thin at the end. Ideal for Jazz, Blues & Rock, and designed for mouthpieces with a longer window and a more gradual curve to the mouthpiece tip.
2. So called Jazz reeds. These are more filed than the American Cut and play a little softer - almost between the other two cuts.
So it partly depends on what mouthpiece you play but I would think that the reason that Rico Jazz Selects are very popular is partly because it is higher quality cane, but also probably suits more different mouthpieces. Commonly most beginners start on Rico Royal or Vandoren Traditional Blue Box, both of which are French Cut and more suited to classical music and French design mouthpieces (such as the Selmer SA80 C* which was a common starter mouthpiece).
My recommendation would probably get some "Jazz" reeds at strength 2, or 2S if Rico Jazz Selects and prepare them as in
http://www.superial.com/mainten_breakin.html .
Hope this helps, and makes sense!
