The Reddish Fetish - Llegue (2025)

In the late 1960s, saxophonist Bill Reddish led the Reddish Fetish, a group in South Florida that blended together jazz, rock, and avant-garde music with aspects of World Music. This album is based on the history and purpose of that original Reddish Fetish group. The son of Bill Reddish is a drummer and percussionist. This project is to reimagine the music of his father. The opening tune belongs to composer and icon, Alice Coltrane.

With Jason T. Reddish laying down a strong introductory drum line, followed by the horns that sing their unison melodic line, I quickly recognize “All the Things You Are” and the ensemble slowly swings it. They follow this with “Fusion Flower” a Wayne Shorter tune with Jason T. Reddish pushing the song ahead with a flurry of strong drumsticks. Ben Golder-Novick steps stage center on tenor saxophone, delivering a soulful solo. They add a taste of fusion on this arrangement, with Jason Green’s electric guitar and Roy Suter moving from the piano to the keyboards.

The title of this album, “Llegue” translates to ‘arrived.’ For Bill’s son, it signifies that Jason T. Reddish has arrived as a bandleader, and as a producer who brings his father’s 1960 music alive and exciting into the 21st century. On the Alice Coltrane opening tune, “Journey into Satchidananda,” while the percussionist is playing conga’s, he is softly chanting “Llegue,” the album’s title. Ian Kenselaar opens the piece on double bass and sets the tempo and mood. He also plays a dynamic solo on the composition, “5 Sleeves.”

Jason T. Reddish was exposed to all types of jazz from childhood upward. He began his drum study when he was six and then began piano lessons at age eight. At first, during high school he explored rock, playing it in various New York clubs. He studied at the Drummer’s Collective and with Ralph Peterson at Rutgers. For the past decade, he has honed his craft with Michael Carvin at Carvin’s school of drumming.

This repertoire is rich with old favorites like Horace Silver’s “Senor Blues” with J. Hacha De Zola singing it, and the popular Bobby Timmons’ tune “Moanin.’” This talented group closes with a Reddish original song called “Shango Can Fly.” Here is 1960 jazz refreshed and reinvented. It’s sure to please your jazz sensibilities.~Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

Jason T. Reddish, drums/percussion; Jose Yogui Rosario, congas; Jason Green, guitar; Ian Kenselaar, double bass; Roy Suter, piano/keyboards; J. Hacha de Zola, vocals; Sean David Cunningham, violin; Indofunk Satish, trumpets; Ben Golder-Novick, tenor saxophone/clarinet.