The funky sounds of ZZ Top and other blues-influenced bands were the rage in Houston, Texas, during the early 1980s when Steven Ibanez got hooked on reggae.

Ibanez launched I & I Foundation Records in the early 1990s and produced albums and singles by artistes such as Tristan Palma and Grindsman.

After a break, Ibanez has returned to the music business, spearheading a project by Ska great Eric ‘Monty’ Morris.

“I got involved wtih Monty Morris by introduction by Grindsman and saw a great need to get this icon in the forefront. I have put together a band with Tony Green on sax, Everald Gayle on trombone and Benbow (Creary) on drums to begin a world tour in September and release a live album entitled History of Jamaican Music,” Ibanez told the Jamaica Observer.

Morris, who lives in South Florida, had a brief but successful career in the mid-1960s. He recorded hit songs like Oil In My Lamp, Sammy Dead and Say What You’re Saying before migrating to the United States during the early 1970s.

The diminutive singer is part of a new direction taken by Ibanez, who has his eyes set on one of the music business’s thriving regions.

“I & I Foundation Records and Management are moving more towards artiste management and its INI Music Publishing Company, signing new talent like I Marley and concentrating on the huge Latin market,” he explained.

Ibanez has always been fascinated by the Latin scene, which has become a happy hunting ground for dancehall/reggae acts. In the late 1990s, he pushed a genre called ragga salsa, which debuted in 1999 with Palma’s song of the same name.

Born in Houston to Mexican parents, Ibanez says Millie Small and Jimmy Cliff were the first Jamaican acts he heard as a youth. Later, he got into The Wailers through their groundbreaking 1973 album, Catch A Fire, and the protest message of Linton Kwesi Johnson and Steel Pulse.

After regular visits to Jamaica and Kingston’s recording studios, Ibanez said he was encouraged to start a label by percussionist Bongo Herman. He launched House of Jah Productions which focused on roots-reggae Mad Height Productions, a dancehall imprint that promoted dancehall acts.

One of his first productions was 1992’s Vision of Love, an album by Texan reggae group The Buffalo Soldier.