About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Ozomatli

Encyclopedia : O : OZ : OZO : Ozomatli

Ozomatli is a Latin funk/worldbeat/rock en Español group, formed in 1996 in Los Angeles, known as much for their extremely vocal activist viewpoints as their wide array of musical styles.

Contents

History

Ozomatli take their name from the Nahuatl word for the Aztec astrological symbol of the monkey, which is also a god of dance, fire, the new harvest, and music.

The members of the band met through their affiliation with the Peace and Justice Center of Los Angeles, and their first performance was for picketers during a strike. They began their career in the Los Angeles and San Diego/Mexico border-area club scene. Following an appearance in Vibe magazine, the group broke into the mainstream, releasing Ozomatli, their self titled debut album, in June 1998 under the Almo Sounds label.

Ozomatli's second album, Embrace the Chaos, was released on the auspicious date of September 11, 2001. Although many American bands cancelled their concerts, Ozomatli gained some recognition for continuing to play their concerts, all the while continuing their commitment to social justice and progressive politics, in addition to the rising anti-war movement. Afterwards, the band made a further commitment to a new direction in music, embracing North African and Arab musical styles in addition to their own.

The musical styles of many cultures are blended on 2004's Street Signs, with vocals mentioning the Yakuza crossing paths with gnawa trance; or Moroccan sintir virtuoso Hassan Hakmoun, joining the band along with Les Yeux Noirs and the Prague Symphony. Also accompanying are David Hidalgo of Los Lobos and Mario Calire of The Wallflowers. The salsa pioneer Eddie Palmieri, who is on the Concord Jazz label, is a featured performer on Street Signs.

In 2005, Street Signs won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album.

Notable Performances

Carlos Santana offered the band one of their early breaks as his headlining act during his 1999 tour to promote Supernatural.

During the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, Ozomatli played a live concert before thousands of protestors across the street from the Staples Center. Also performing at the protest was Rage Against the Machine.

The group also received the 2002 Grammy Award for 'Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album'. After playing at Coachella, Ozomatli were featured in Newsweek and on the Univision program Despierta America in June 2004.

Ozomatli has twice performed at the Austin, Texas mega music festival South by Southwest, most recently in 2004, when the group was confronted while performing outside of a club where they would later have a concert. Two members of the band, as well as the manager, were arrested, and the charges were eventually dropped.

In March 2005, Ozomatli played at WOMAdelaide, a world music festival in Adelaide, South Australia. They had two night sets including a memorable Saturday when, after refusing to leave the stage 15 minutes late, they leaped into the crowd for a remarkable 45 minute encore.

Members

This is Ozomatli's lineup as of the release of Street Signs:

Past members

Discography

Collaborations

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: