OZOMATLI Eclectic group keeps breaking music barriers

Though the band might not be terribly well known, it is known for its activism.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Ozomatli has spent the last decade pushing political and musical boundaries with their unique blend of Latin rock, hip-hop, funk and everything else in between.
Their efforts have won them devoted fans who pack their concerts, heaps of critical acclaim, even a Grammy. Yet Ozomatli still seems to be a secret that pop audiences have yet to discover.
Their biggest album was their first, the 1998 self-titled "Ozomatli," which sold 255,000 copies. The follow-up, "Embrace the Chaos," sold a paltry 78,000. Their latest, "Street Signs," released this summer, is at 50,000 units sold so far.
"We're not hiding from mainstream success; we would love to have it. I think our music is pop, whatever you want to call it, and could be loved by millions of millions of people, the way it is," says bassist Wil-Dog Abers.
"I think we've always wanted to be big, but we never followed the formulas that were out there," says guitarist Raul Pacheco. "We kind of always wanted to do it with our own style, and our own sound."
A mix of genres
Though the multiracial, multiethnic group is often pegged as Latin rock -- they recently performed at the Latin Grammys and in 2002 won a Grammy for best Latin rock/alternative album -- "Street Signs," continues in the band's tradition of mixing multiple genres.
As always, there's a rap component -- they have an MC and a turntablist -- but the bilingual band also mixes a bit of electronica, funk, and on this disc, middle Eastern rhythms.
"We're always in exploration mode," says Abers. "We're always trying to understand different music and people and cultures from all over the world."
Perhaps the one genre they weren't identified with was jazz -- until their unlikely alliance with the jazz label Concord Records, their new home (The group parted ways with Interscope after the release of their second album, "Embrace the Chaos)."
Television producer Norman Lear, co-owner of Concord, says the band is part of a jazz tradition because they're "so innovative and expansive and inclusive. Ozo, they're not a jazz band, but they explore the way a jazz musician does.
"You don't know what to expect from Ozomatli, and you never know what to expect from a great jazz musician," says Lear.
What's expected
One thing that fans do expect from Ozomatli is activism. It's evident on "Street Signs" with tracks like "[Who Discovered] America?" and "Who's To Blame."
Even the use of Arabic music, Abers says, is "kind of like our way of understanding people from that part of the word and what they're going through.
"It's our way of dealing with the politics involved, and there's so much pressure from that region."
Politics helped the Los Angeles-based group got their start. Abers gathered the original lineup in 1995 as a way to raise money for a center where his labor group had been striking (though the band consists of six members, it can swell to as many as 10 when they are on tour).
Over the years they've kept their political side, whether it's performing at rallies for celebrity death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, opposing the war in Iraq or helping local high school kids protest the military by performing for them.
But the group is far from an angry, in-your-face band. An Ozomatli show is like a free-wheeling, funky party -- from the chants and banter with the audience to the traditional conga line with fans that ends each show.
Arrests
Ironically, it was a conga line that gave Ozomatli perhaps the biggest scare of their career. The line spilled into the street at the end of a performance at the recent South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. Police were called and a skirmish ensued. Abers, percussionist Jiro Yamaguchi and the band's road manager were arrested -- Yamaguchi faced charges of assault after they were accused of assaulting a public servant, a charge the band denied.
Charges against Yamaguchi were later downgraded and the case resolved, but not before costing the band a lot of time and money, Pacheco says.
"The whole scenario was ridiculous," he says.
The incident helped bring the band even closer together. It's one aspect of the group that the band is probably most proud of -- their ability to stay together over the years. There's no one leader, and all have a say in the production of the music.
"Raul always says this is the longest relationship than any of us has ever been in," says Abers, only half-joking.