Back in the late 1960s, saxophonist Bill Reddish led the Reddish Fetish, a group in South Florida that blended together jazz, rock, avant-garde explorations, and aspects of World Music to form its own unclassifiable fusion of exciting and influential music. The innovative electric bassist Jaco Pastorius often sat in with the influential group and considered Bill Reddish to be a mentor.

Unfortunately the Reddish Fetish never recorded but on Llegué, his recording debut as a leader, Bill’s son drummer-percussionist Jason T. Reddish has revived the group’s now-legendary music and sound. He utilizes an octet that also includes pianist-keyboardist Roy Suter, Ben Golder-Novick on tenor and clarinet, trumpeter Indofunk Satish, violinist Sean David Cunnigham, guitarist Jason Green, bassist Ian Kenselaar, and Jose Yogui Rosario on congas.

The wide-ranging set, which is filled with memorable ensembles and concise solos, ranges from Alice Coltrane’s atmospheric and haunting “Journey Into Satchidananda” and Wayne Shorter’s funky “Fusion Flower” (which has some particularly heated trumpet playing from Satish) to “5 Sleeves” (“Greensleeves” in 5/4 time), “Moanin’,” a stretched-out version of “All The Things You Are,” Charlie Parker’s “Confirmation,” and “Shango Can Fly” which finds the drummer leading some wild ensembles. In addition, J. Hacha De Zola has guest vocals on “Senor Blues” and “Lush Life.”

Jason T Reddish began playing drums when he was six and piano at eight, studying both instruments for a decade. He was exposed to all types of jazz from an early age by his father. While still in high school, he played rock in New York clubs and was later signed by Atlantic Records in the early1990’s with the band Scattered Few. He studied at the Drummer’s Collective and with Ralph Peterson at Rutgers. Reddish played with the band Crambone (which he co-founded), toured and recorded with singer-songwriter Paul Wenzel and the JAE Trio, and currently works with Fuse Patrol, Regina Bonelli, and in NYC with other groups.

Llegué is not only an homage to Bill Reddish, but an exhilarating visit to a time when many different styles were colliding and creating exciting new music with unlimited potential. In addition to looking at an undocumented past, Llegué gives listeners a possible path to the future of creative music.