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Ozomatli Performing for Obama at Hispanic Caucus Gala
Spinner * September 16, 2009
by John D. Luerssen

Culture mashing Los Angeles band Ozomatli will perform for President Barack Obama and 2,000 guests in Washington, D.C. tonight. The band will take the stage at the 32nd Congressional Hispanic Caucus Gala at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, with influential politicians like Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid attending what may be the most prestigious show of the band's career.

Over the past 14 years, Ozomatli has worked diligently to spread its message of global communication and understanding through music, meshing an array of musical styles into what it calls "the people's music." The acclaimed and musically diverse band recently served as cultural ambassadors with a State Department-sponsored trip that included performances in Rangoon, Burma, Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietnam and Bangkok, Thailand.

The gig comes in advance of Ozomatli's "Off the Grid" tour of the West Coast, which gets underway on Oct. 29 at California's Sacramento State University. The band also has a pair of Christmas homecoming shows planned for Dec. 18 and 19 in Los Angeles and an album slated for release next year.