Latinos Rock Out to Free Summer Concert Series

Written by Hilda Gabriela Wednesday, 16 September 2009 14:02

Since their last L.A. concert visit this past February where the Grammy-winning band reunited with old friend MC Chali 2na, Ozomatli has packed on the miles in their intense 2009 Spring Tour, which took the band to every corner of the nation. But this past September 11th, the ensemble set anchor here in their native L.A. and granted their fans a free of charge full musical concert at the historical El Rey Theatre.

Not promoting their own tour or album, this time around the band visited their hometown as closing performers to the Smirnoff Ice and Univision Radio Summer Concert Series geared to the Latin community.
The summer concert series was taken to San Antonio, Miami and Los Angeles, where popular Latin artists such as rapper Baby Bash delighted fans with a free performance, and LA’s very own Ozomatli put that Latin hip hop and reggae touch to the closing concert date.

Ulises Bella (Ozomatli’s sax, requinto, clarinet and melodica player) remembers a time when major companies didn’t cater to that demographic. When the band emerged in 1995, minorities in Los Angeles were undergoing a pivotal time in Angeleno history with Proposition 187 being anticipated and the case of former football player OJ Simpson creating racial tension within the city. “Ozomatli as a band,” states Bella “has catered to this audience since the early 90’s. It's refreshing to finally see others understanding how important this market is as well.” Ozomatli’s Latin and hip hop infused rhythms accompanied by their lyrics of activism and empowerment were after all what got this band noticed to begin with. Now with numerous album releases, countless participations in rallies and protests, and after various stellar performances with respected musicians such as Carlos Santana and the Long Beach based rockers, Sublime, Ozomatli is glad to witness a time when major companies are taking notice of the growing market. “The bigger the Latino market gets, the more and more these major companies will bend over backwards to sell them stuff,” he adds. “Even the major companies who in the past have no history of catering to the Latin community will eventually get in on the action.”

 

                      

Continuing to cater to that growing market, Ozomatli made sure to satisfy their fans with their El Rey Theatre performance. Amidst a crowd of fans, the eclectic band bellowed out Ozomatli classics and also performed some of their new musical material. The band plans to continue their efforts to reach mass audiences with their music of empowerment, will continue their cultural ambassador work as they have been doing since 2007 when the band became US Cultural Ambassadors, and will continue to take part in projects that cater to the Latino market.

For more information on when Ozomatli hits your town, visit them here. And for more refreshing events, check out Al Borde’s gig calendar to see what’s hot and heavy in your area.

 

 

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