Fairly motley crew

Jeff Benson

If an eight-hour van ride from Bern, Switzerland, to a Paris airport

won’t wear them down, then a 12-hour red-eye flight and a scheduled

West Coast concert that same night surely will.

But the members of Southern California-based Ozomatli disagreed,

even as they made their final arrangements in Switzerland for their

cross-continent trip to the Orange County Fair. The band still plans

on joining the Dance Hall Crashers for a 7:30 p.m. performance

tonight at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa.

It’ll be a brief homecoming for the band’s nine members, most of

whom grew up within 20 minutes of Los Angeles, saxophonist,

clarinetist and vocalist Ulises “Uli” Bella said. Ozomatli will begin

a tour of Australia and Japan next week.

“Right when we get off the plane, we’re jumping in a bus and going

to the fair,” Bella said from Switzerland. “But it’s just one of

those things. We’re always taking care of ourselves on the road, and

there’s this group mentality of trying to motivate ourselves to give

that extra little bit. It’s our last show on this run, and the last

bit of that juice will come out, you know?”

Their fans know. It’s that kind of unrelenting energy and focus

that has made the politically-conscious group one of the biggest

Spanish/English-speaking crossover groups and one of the most

sought-after live acts worldwide. Ozomatli was a headliner at

England’s multicultural Glastonbury Festival 2004 and Bella said the

band’s nine members definitely enjoyed wowing the nearly 300,000

Brits in attendance.

“We’re playing some of our old songs, but it’s most of our new

material,” Bella said. “We definitely play a lot different than we do

on the records. That’s always been one of our fortes -- the live

performance.”

In addition, its fourth album, “Street Signs,” debuted last month

at No. 2 on the Latin charts, according to https://www.ozomatli.com.

Wednesday, its 2003 release, “Coming Up,” was nominated for a Latin

Grammy for “Best Alternative Album.”

Bella said he hadn’t heard about any of that while the band was

touring.

Ozomatli’s concerts typically turn into big Latin dance parties,

with salsa, samba, rap, funk, Middle Eastern and marching band-style

instrumentals that often carry on for more than 20 minutes. Some of

the songs begin innocently enough with blaring trumpet solos and

Spanish samba, cut to English-speaking rap, and finish the way they

started. In fact, there are so many polyrhythmic styles represented

in the music that the musicians themselves weren’t even sure what to

call it.

“I think we’re part of a tradition of multi-stylists,” Bella said.

“It’s definitely roots music because it all evolved in the streets

and in our neighborhoods. But I find it hard to classify myself.”

Orange County Fair Chief Operating Officer Steven Beazley said

Ozomatli was a hit last year, when it played a free concert at

Citizens Business Bank Arena. He said he fielded several phone calls,

requesting the band’s return this year.

“The thing about Ozomatli is that they appeal to so many types of

folks,” Beazley said. “Their music crosses over into so many

different types of genres. And the appeal we had for them was their

eclectic approach to music.