NEWS 26 Jun 2007

Ozomatli Travel To Three Middle East Countries

Ozomatli Travel To Tunisia, Jordan, and Egypt - Serving as US Cultural Ambassadors

Ozomatli’s mission has long been to spread a global message of peace and understanding through diversity in music. Often described as "the people's music”, Ozomatli recently extended this message to the people of Nepal and India, representing the US as Cultural Ambassadors on a grant from the US State Department.
 
Through this wildly successful trip, Ozomatli became the first western artist to perform in Nepal in recent memory, and their shows were acknowledged as the first peaceful non-political mass gathering ever organized in modern Kathmandu.
 
The India-Nepal trip was so effective that it prompted the Councilor for Press and Cultural Affairs at the US Embassy in Jordan to extend an invitation to Ozomatli for similar program in four Middle Eastern countries - Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia. (Unfortunately the Beitteddine Festival in Lebanon was subsequently cancelled due to unrest in Beirut).
 
Ozomatli will be performing July 22 at the International Carthage Festival in Tunis, the largest and longest running arts festival in the region. Carthage was the capital of the Phoenician empire, reaching its zenith in the 3rd-4th centuries AD. The band will have the unique opportunity to perform in a preserved Roman Ampitheatre from that period.

July 26th, Ozomatli will be guests of the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts in northern Jordan, established in 1980 by Her Majesty Queen Nour Al-Hussein. The festival now under the patronage of King Abdullahe II takes place in the ancient Greek-Roman city of Jerash. The city opens all of its amphitheatres, temples, plazas and forums each summer for artists and audiences during this festival. In addition, the Jerash Festival will program Ozomatli in the Red Sea port city of Aqaba on July 27th.
 
Ozomatli will also be performing a free, open-air show on July 29 in the ancient Mediterranean city of Alexandria, Egypt, and the following day at the Opera House in the center of Cairo.

Ozomatli are an LA based, multiethnic, multiracial group who are a living example that music can transcend any cultural or social boundary. Ozomatli has long been devoted to social justice and community involvement. This trip will include an array of outreach activities in all of the Middle Eastern posts; visits to orphanages, schools and community centers. They will also be hosting master classes and music workshops, as well as interactions with local master musicians.

Ozomatli recently released their fourth full length studio album, “Don’t Mess With The Dragon” to widespread critical acclaim on Concord Records. GLOBAL RHYTHM said that “Ozomatli’s heart, spirit and musical adventurousness make it one the country’s best – if least classifiable – bands” while the VILLAGE VOICE deemed their new release “a celebration of their native L.A. in all its multicultural vibrancy and socioeconomic volatility… Ozo's 10-man crew salute the aural mosaic of ethnic signifiers that makes our country great.”

OZOMATLI TOUR, MIDDLE EAST

Sunday July 22 – Carthage Festival, Tunisia
Tuesday July 24th – Outreach, Jordan
Wednesday July 25th – Outreach, Jordan
Thursday July 26th – Jerash Festival, Jordan
Friday July 27th – Concert, Aquaba Jordan
Sunday July 29th – Concert, Cairo Egypt
Monday July 30th – Concert, Alexandria Opera House