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Ozomatli
Live at the Fillmore
(Concord)
First Appeared in The Music Box, September 2005, Volume 12, #9
Written by T.J. Simon
Ozomatli is a Los Angeles-based, world music collective that is as difficult
to pigeonhole as it is easy to enjoy. Does the ten-member (sometimes more,
sometimes less) group play funky dance music? Hip-hop? Mariachi? Spanish rock?
Samba? American pop? Based upon the wide variety of content contained on its
fourth release Live at the Fillmore, the band seems to do everything
quite well as it delivers its multi-cultural gumbo of ideas.
Indeed, Ozomatli is a veritable melting pot of ethnicity — Hispanic singers
trade vocals with African rappers, while a Caucasian DJ scratches behind a
rainbow coalition of horns and percussionists. The group is what America should
be, and the music performed by these multi-instrumentalists is tight, flawless,
and intoxicating. Pairing a concert album with a bonus DVD, Live at the Fillmore opens
with the scratching of the turntables by DJ Spinobi before the band launches
into Dos Cosas Ciertas, where traditional Spanish vocals segue into urban
hip-hop. Fans of the Latin-tinged rock of Santana and Los Lonely Boys will fall
in love with (Who Discovered) America and the beautiful Cuando Canto,
while devotees of straightforward, party-style hip-hop will enjoy Saturday
Night. Other standout tracks include the jazzy samba-flavor of Eva
and the ultra-catchy, mainstream pop of Love and Hope. The only time the
band overstays its welcome is on the CD’s finale La Misma Canción,
where an overly lengthy call-and-response jam with the crowd fails to translate
its potency to a home theater setting.
For the past seven years, Ozomatli’s impressive studio albums consistently
have been eclipsed by tales of the band’s legendary, high-energy, booty-shaking
concerts. Its rabid fan base, which is displayed prominently on the generous
14-song concert DVD included in this package, is a dancing, smiling throng that
offers a reflection of the party that is happening on stage. For newcomers to
the fiesta, Live at the Fillmore’s CD-DVD set is a sparkling initiation
to the cultural breadth and musical quality that Ozomatli represents. 
Live at the Fillmore is available
from Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
Click Here!
For UK orders, please
Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2005
The Music Box
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