Named after the Aztec monkey god of dance and passion, Ozomatli play a unique mix of salsa, hip-hop, reggae, rock, merengue, funk and more. Their membership includes Wil-Dog Abers (b. 24 February 1973, Los Angeles, California, USA; bass/vocals), Raúl "El Bully" Pacheco (b. 9 January 1969, Los Angeles, California, USA; guitar/lead vocals), Ulises Bella (b. 15 March 1975, Los Angeles, California, USA; tenor saxophone/clarinet/vocals), Jose "Crunchy" Espinosa (b. 20 November 1973, Downey, California, USA; alto saxophone/vocals), William "Echo" Marrufo (drums), Andrew Mendoza (drums), Pablo Castorena (trombone), Justin "Niño" Porée (b. 14 February 1976, Los Angeles, California, USA; percussion), Asdru Sierra (b. 4 May 1972, Los Angeles, California, USA; trumpet/lead vocals), Jiro Yamaguchi (b. 4 October 1967, New York City, New York, USA; percussion), Anthony "Kanetic" Source Stout (vocals), Chali 2na (vocals), Rene "Spinobi" Dominguez (turntablist), and Cut Chemist (b. Lucas McFadden; turntablist).
Ozomatli was formed in Los Angeles in 1995 by Abers and Pacheco, initially to play community benefit gigs, progressing to a Thursday night residency at Hollywood's Opium Den club, which helped to hone their skills and gain them a reputation as the hottest live band on the west coast. They subsequently moved their residency to the much larger Dragonfly venue in order to meet their ever-increasing popularity. The band's first release was 1997's Ya Llego EP, which featured early versions of favourites such as "Super Bowl Sundae" and "Cut Chemist Suite'. Their self-titled debut album was released in the USA in 1998 (and a year later in Europe) and was a big hit with everyone from Latin music fans to hardcore hip-hoppers. Follow-up albums continued to win over new converts, with 2004"s Street Signs even boasting a guest appearance from legendary pianist Eddie Palmieri.
It is for their riotous live shows (high energy affairs during which the band unplug their instruments, lead a conga line out into the street and hold up the traffic playing Latin brass and percussion versions of everything from old James Brown tunes to current rap hits to the theme from Sesame Street!) that Ozomatli remain best known. They inspired Carlos Santana to describe them as "the future of music" when they opened for him in 1999.
