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Ozomatli Promotes Music, Diversity as U.S Cultural Ambassadors

Los Angeles Grammy Award winners tour schools, orphanages in Nepal, India

The Grammy Award-winning band Ozomatli became a symbolic part of Nepal's history on February 17 when its concert - with 12,000 singing and dancing fans - became the first peaceful nonprotest, nonpolitical mass gathering in Kathmandu following the country's 10-year civil war.

The free concert in Nepal's capital city was broadcast live on national television and received extensive coverage on various radio stations and newspapers. It was also part of a larger 10-day tour through Nepal and India where the band represented the United States as cultural ambassadors on a Fulbright-Hays grant from the U.S. State Department.

Commenting on the band's potential impact, Sharon Hudson-Dean, deputy director of the American Center in Kathmandu, said the band "reached up to half the population of Nepal through the media with the message of 'Unity in Diversity' at a time when some ethnic groups are pushing violent separatist agendas."

Ozomatli is a nine-piece multiethnic, multiracial Latin rock and hip-hop band from Los Angeles - a living example that music can transcend any cultural or social boundary.

The band and its songs are a combination of different languages, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, musical genres and instruments. They define their sound as a "mash-up of hip hop, salsa, cumbia, dub, and Latino and Middle Eastern funk."

"Everyone in the band is different and we celebrate those differences," said bassist Wil-Dog Abers during an interview with USINFO in Baltimore before taking the stage for an April 18 concert. Abers said conformity, including in their musical tastes, "would be boring."

Guitarist and vocalist Raul Pacheco added that the band's diversity clearly is evidenced through its music. "There are all different kinds of music all over the world. We can embrace it, we can respect it, we can learn it and love it, and make something out of it that's fun and unique."

Abers recounted the band's thoughts before playing the show in Kathmandu. "We really didn't know what to expect going into it," he said. "Everyone told us there might be possible riots and people were going to throw things at us if they didn't like our music."

Instead of being deterred, the band urged the local police to move the crowd closer to the stage. "No one in the band was worried at all. I actually jumped the barricades and started talking to everyone. After the first act, we could tell that there wouldn't be any problems and it would be a lot of fun," Abers said.

"We don't see religious or cultural borders as things that are real. Being open to new ideas is the key. In Nepal, we're in a place where we've never been and no one has heard us. There are 12,000 people out there and we're all having a good time together."

U.S. Ambassador to Nepal James F. Moriarty said February 23 that regardless of whether one enjoys rock music "the band's message seemed especially relevant for Nepal," a country characterized by its ethnic diversity.

In addition to playing free concerts, the band also visited several schools, performing arts centers and orphanages throughout Nepal and India.

At the Sagarmatha House orphanage in Nepal, home to many child victims of the country's civil war, Ozomatli played a show and visited with the children. In turn, the children performed some Nepali songs for the band.

Abers said the group had special memories of visiting with the kids during their trip.

"Everyone who knows Ozomatli knows that we are all about the kids. We love playing for them and hearing them play. Just seeing the culture, music and dance that these kids are being taught was just amazing and we learned a lot from it," he said.

During their time in India, the band played to packed shows in New Delhi and Chandigarh. Ozomatli also visited the Arya Orphanage and the Prayas Juvenile Aid Center, where the band and children exchanged musical performances. The band also participated in a master class at the Ravi Shankar Institute.

The musicians of Ozomatli said they are extremely proud and honored to have been able to meet with children, musicians and fans during the tour.

On the band's Web site, saxophonist Ulises Bella wrote, "[L]ife changing and mind blowing are cliches that are too often thrown around, but what else is there to describe a trip to India and Nepal. ... [T]he opportunity to perform for these audiences, whether it was in the concert halls or orphanages, is a gift that we as group will always cherish in a very deep chamber of our collective souls."

Additional information on the band is available on its Web site. A short clip of its performance in Kathmandu is also available on YouTube.

For more information on music in the United States, see The Arts.

Source: U.S. Department of State

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