No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeArchiveCD Incorporates 9/11 Into Album

CD Incorporates 9/11 Into Album

LOS Angeles-based band Ozomatli wasalready known to superbly mix Latin and hip hopwhen its last album was released on theinfamous date of Sept. 11, 2001. But thegroup used the cataclysm as a jump-off tostudy North African and Arab compositions.After all, “music is a language far more universalthan politics,” said the band’s trumpetplayer and co-vocalist Asdrubal Sierra.Those lessons were incorporated wisely,and wonderfully, in Ozomatli’s new album,Street Signs, released June 22 in Costa Ricaon Concord Records.The album features the multi-culturallineup of Sierra, percussionist JiroYamaguchi, bassist Wil-Dog Abers, percussionistand MC Justin Poree, co-vocalist andguitarist Raul Pacheco, clarinet and tenor saxophonistUlises Bella, drummer Mario Calire,turntablist Rene Spinobi, Dominguez and MCJabu.Ozomalti also welcomed recording guestssuch as jazz legend Eddie Palmieri,Moroccan sinter master Hassan Hakmoun,French-Jewish gypsy violinists Les YeuxNoir, the Prague Symphony, Los Lobossinger/guitarist David Hidalgo, and ex-Wallflowers drummer Mario Calire.The resultant Street Signs travels theworld astutely, offering the band’s trademarkhip-hop and Latin flavor to the current politicalrhymes and of the band’s original MCChait 2na (now with the rap group Jurassic 5)to Palmieri’s piano accent salsa horns in“Nadie Te Tira,” to the block party socialscene that is “Saturday Night,” to The BeatleBox Remix of “Ya Viene El Sol,” which canbest be described as a cut-up, pasted-togetherdance mix of latin beats.Woven throughout is a new and betterversion of globalization, one that peacefullyintegrates the cultures of Latin America, theMiddle East, North America, Asia, France,Europe, Africa and beyond into the mostexciting and progressive world yet.

Trending Now

A Closer Look at the Elusive Purple Gallinule in Costa Rica

Quick! Think of a purple bird! It’s a little difficult, right? I searched my brain and came up with a purple martin. A small...

Low Dollar Exchange Rate Threatens Costa Rican Industry

Ten of Costa Rica’s leading business chambers have sent a joint letter to the Central Bank calling for an immediate adjustment to the country's...

Venezuelan Migrants Describe Hellish Stay in El Salvador Jail

Mervin Yamarte left Venezuela with his younger brother, hoping for a better life. But after a perilous jungle march, US detention, and long months in...

Chiquita Executives Convicted in Colombia for Financing Death Squads

Colombian justice on Wednesday sentenced seven former executives of the multinational banana company Chiquita Brands to more than 11 years in prison and a...

Why Birders Are Flocking to Costa Rica’s Barra del Colorado

Costa Rica is a bird-watching paradise, offering an incredible diversity with close to 900 recorded species, including resident and migratory species. One reason for...

Costa Rica Launches Traceability System to Tackle Illegal Logging

Costa Rica is advancing with the creation of a National Forest Traceability System, a key tool to guarantee the legality and sustainability of timber...
Avatar
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica