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Arts & Entertainment

The Mello Will Rock With Ozomatli

Santa Cruz's Gina Rene opens for the award-winning L.A. band.

Ozomatli has travelled a long way since they last played in Watsonville in 1997.

Back then, the band was freshly formed. They came to play at the march, which drew over 30,000 people into the streets to protest farm workers' rights.

Fourteen years, five studio albums and one Grammy later, Ozomatli returns to Watsonville to play at the Mello Center for the Performing Arts, and it is going to be "the best damn show that people can get for their dollar," said Jose Reyes-Olivas of Sage Productions, the company putting on the show.

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Santa Cruz's local talent, Gina Rene, will open for the band. Her brother, Chris Rene, is still competing on the TV singing show and .

Ozomatli emerged in East L.A. from a multi-cultured fabric of musicians with a strong political voice in 1995. They are known for their fully-energized live shows and a musical style that is a soulful mash-up the L.A. Times once described as "reggae-hip-hop-samba-funk-punk-ska."

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Their lineup fluctuates between seven and 10 musicians, and includes a three-piece horn section, keyboard, DJ, percussion, guitarists and vocalists. The ensemble says their sound is a direct reflection of the diverse makeup of East L.A.

“You drive down Sunset Boulevard and turn off your stereo and roll down your windows and all the music that comes out of each and every different car, whether its salsa, cumbia, merengue, or hip hop, funk, or whatever, it’s that crazy blend that’s going on between that cacaphony of sound that is Ozomatli,” saxaphone player Ulises Bella told National Public Radio in a 2007 interview. 

Athough the band has found massive success both at home and abroad, they continue on the same socially-conscious trajectory they travelled on when they first passed through Watsonville a decade and a half ago.

Named Cultural Ambassadors by the U.S. State Department, Ozomatli has flown all over the world to perform free public concerts and host workshops in countries like Nepal, Myanmar, Vietnam and Jordan, where Westerners are not always welcome. 

“It’s really how we started. It’s part of the identity of the band. Our roots came from a community center where there was a stand-in and a sit-in, and the role of the band was actually to come in and play music to raise money for this community center. And for the first year we did nothing but benefits behind different causes from you know the Zapatista movement to women’s rights, it’s really how we started,” percussionist Jiro Yamaguchi told NPR.

In their song "Cuando Canto," Ozomatli sings, "Cuando canto mi canción, quiero inspirar mi gente con una solución," (when I sing my song, I want to inspire my people with a solution,) and the celebration of music as a peaceful ground for people to come together is a celebration that Reyes-Olivas said Watsonville needs.

"My personal agenda is to bring something positive to Watsonville, to offset all of the bad press. We want to welcome people to Watsonville, by finding our strengths. The arts is the best thing to do that with. And there couldn't be a better band than Ozomatli to represent uniting the people," said Reyes-Olivas.

Ozomatli is aware that their role as musicians is a powerful alternative to violence, and they are role models for youths who seek a positive outlet through music and lyrical expression.

"The youth see us up there and recognize themselves. So in a playful, party-type of way, I think it's real easy for this band to get dangerous. We are starting to realize just how big of a voice we actually have as a band and how important it is for us to use it," said bassist Wil-Dog Abers.

, the second-largest music venue in Santa Cruz County (the largest is Santa Cruz's Civic Auditorium), with 770 seats—but it is unlikely that guests will remain seated in them.

“It’s similar to Shoreline, you’re up on your feet if it’s a good show,” said Reyes-Olivas. 

The Mello Center is at 250 E. Beach St. in Watsonville. Doors open at 8 p.m, show starts at 9 p.m. For tickets and information, visit www.livefromthemello.com.

Ozomatli is presented by the Pajaro Valley Performing Arts Association and Sage Productions.

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