Ozomatli

ozomatli
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.

The coolest thing, and the real reason for this picture, is that they had a sign-language interpreter there for any hearing impaired folk in the audience. He's the guy on the far right. Ozomatli played the main stage of the fair and was amazing. They had a gigantic crowd, dancing, undulating bodies everywhere, and the bandmembers were so musically impressive. The music was a mix of latin, rock, hip-hop and world beat cleverly melodic and rich. I counted ten people performing on stage. They had so much energy that half the time their feet didn't even seem to touch the ground. One of the percussionists kept throwing a gourd instrument through the air and catching it, so skillfully it seemed like an extention of his being. I wish I could dance as well as those guys too! The trombone player got most of my attention because he was so happy, so into the movement of the music-- his footwork was riveting to me. They ended the show by parading deep into the audience, playing all the while. Wow.