 Ozomatli
Within the chaos that is the city of Los Angeles,
a beautiful thing happened. Erupting out of the insanity
came Ozomatli, a ten piece band who've managed to tweak
people's consciousness with their highly politicized
amalgamation of hip-hop, salsa, ska, funk and jazz.
People who live in LA are tired of gang violence and
guns. They fear it's going to get worse, but stay because
of a sustaining belief in their heart that something's
gonna turn this shit around. With their powerful spirit,
Ozomatli give people a sense of hope by spreading mad
love and citizens all over are finding themselves drawn
to their message.
Ozomatli features an ethnic makeup that's as diverse
as the city they live in. Using congas and claves, turntables
and tablas, trumpets and saxophones, Ozomatli has managed
to create a unique blend of modern day S-O-U-L music.
"We have a deep reverence and awe for the archaic
traditions of our music, of salsa, samba, all these
traditions go back to Africa," says Ulises Bela,
the group's tenor sax player. "But we also love
incorporating modern sounds, hip-hop, funk, whatever
we feel like... it trips people out."
Last year, Ozomatli opened for Carlos Santana at the
Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, CA., performing in front
of 11,000 people. Carlos introduced Ozomatli to his
guests as "the future" of music, and suggested
the crowd pay attention. Backstage, the veteran performer
gave Ozo a lecture, telling the members they have an
important road ahead and to take it seriously. He stressed
communication, to avoid the usual band drama that festers
when the pressure is on, and Ozo took his words to heart.
Ozomatli's rise in Southern California has been fast
and furious. Over the course of a year, the group went
from playing charity benefits to selling out the Hollywood
Opium Den every Thursday night. Word spread of their
stage antics, including the samba line that commences
every live performance to filing out of the club and
creating a spontaneous block party.
The crowds clamoring for Ozomatli became so large
that the band moved their Thursday night reign from
the Opium Den to their larger capacity neighbor, Dragonfly.
And when the band tour outside of California (which
they will do this summer on the Vans WARPED tour), they
get invited back. On a recent sophomore visit to Colorado,
they sold out the Fox Theatre, with fans lining up to
hear them once again.
People hear what they want to hear in Ozo's music
- various political factions, music clicks, and Hollywood
scenesters have adopted them as their own. For its part,
Ozo is happy to oblige by playing the music they want
to play, without compromise. They sing in Spanish, but
rap in English. The music is political yet the politics
take a back seat to the extravaganza that erupts when
Ozomatli steps on stage.
In the tradition of such So Cal luminaries as WAR,
Jane's Addiction, N.W.A. and Rage Against the Machine,
Ozomatli are knocking down narrowminded doors quicker
than you can say, "Como Ves", the album's
first track. "Como Ves" is a subtle warning
to open your eyes and that "history" isn't
necessarily something you learn in school. Ozomatli
put an emphasis on thinking for yourself, while happily
telling you what time it is. This is exemplified by
two of the album's tracks, "Coming War," a
reminder that the revolution will be televised, and
"O Le Le," essentially a lyrical battle of
wits rather than weapons. Rapper Chali 2na - the lanky
Chi-Town philosopher - observes, "if you can't
understand we're all put here on this earth to trip
off each other, then you're just lost in the race of
life."
Ozomatli were born out of protest at the former downtown
LA site of the Emergency Response Unit headquarters,
now the Peace and Justice Center. The band's bassist
Wil-Dog, Ozo's founder and one of its most outspoken
members, was part of a month-long strike that occurred
as a result of a conflict between the Los Angeles Conservation
Corp and the ERU. Wil-Dog was among the people working
for the LACC, protesting poor worker conditions as well
as the firing of a leader who, Wil-Dog says, encouraged
his crew to employ creative tactics to educate students.
Wil-Dog and his co-workers staged a sit-in, which
began March 12, 1995 -- the same day singer/guitarist
Raul Pacheco moved back to LA after abandoning a political
consulting career. Wil-Dog soon began writing songs,
and Ozomatli played their first gig a month later.
Originally, they only played political benefits but
word spread and within no time, kids were appearing
on the streets of Los Angeles with 'Ozo' tattoos. "We
represent all the ghettos of LA," Wil-Dog says.
"We want to make a change in our neighborhoods,
show people a positive way to live." He adds, "I
knew we had something special the first day we played,"
says Wil-Dog, "I'd never been in a band that just
wanted to party, to have fun and still be about something."
Ozomatli is an Aztec word for the God of
dance and appears on the Aztec calender in the form
of a monkey. Whether you understand the Spanish language
or not, as Ozomatli performs, their stories come through
the music. It goes back to that "essence of S-O-U-L"
thing. It doesn't matter if they're playing a traditional
Mexican ballad or encouraging Chali 2na to drop some
knowledge, Ozomatli gets its point across. "When
you walk through LA," says Bella, "you hear
all these sounds. Just take a walk and listen. That's
the music of Ozomatli." Wil-Dog adds, "Nothing
we do is traditional, but it's very LA."
T-Ray, who has produced records for Cypress Hill and
Helmet, captured the true spirit of Ozomatli on this
record - which is as uncompromising as the live shows.
"We were like nothing he'd ever done," says
Bela, "he put his whole life into it."
Go ahead and have a listen and, oh yeah, !Viva la
Revolution!
Raul Pacheco -- lead vocals, guitar,
bajo sexto
Chali 2na -- vocals, ghetto diplomat
Cut Chemist -- turntables, world famous
master scratch and rhythmic DJ king
Wil-Dog -- funk, hip-hop and Latin
bass specialist
William Marrufo -- drums, vocals, Latin-jazz-funk-hip
hop backbone
Ulises Bella -- tenor sax, summer soul-stice,
pure energy
Asdru Sierra -- trumpet, vocals, from
a long line of Saleros, from the mambo to the jazz to
the salsa to the funk
Jiro Yamaguchi -- tablas, bongos, percussion,
trained in Indian classical music via NYC and Japan
Justin "Nino" Poree -- congas,
percussion, the kid with the vicious Afro-Cuban attack
Back
to The EAR CD, Vol. 1
TOP
| 
