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Ojala

Presented by EsquinaTango Cultural Society of Austin

September 10, 2010

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“Ojala” (pronounced O-ha-la) is a Spanish word derived from the Arabic word Inshallah meaning“ God Willing or Hopefully, Ojala is also the name of a world music group based in Austin, Texas, USA. Led by the Iranian-born Kamran Hooshmand and Mexican-born Javier Palacios, Ojala interprets and performs bilingual love songs and ballads in both Persian and Spanish.

Hooshmand is also the founder of the Austin’s Middle Eastern band, 1001 Nights Orchestra, which has garnered a Best of Austin Award for their live performance of an original score to the 1924 silent classic, Thief of Bagdad. He is a member of the award-winning Texas Early Music Project’s Medieval Ensemble. Palacios is one of the finest Latin singers in Austin and has performed with a variety of Latin bands in Austin and Mexico, including Silencio, Centzontle, Cerronato, and special opening performance for the late Mercedes Sosa.

Although, the duo perform all of the singing and many of the instruments, their live performances often include violin, bass, accordion, percussion and clarinet along with oud (the Middle Eastern lute), and guitar. The band will be getting together for a memorable reunion concert on Friday, Sep. 10, 2010 at Esquino Tango studios. Besides the core members many of them also members of the 1001 Nights Orchestra (accordionist Don Weeda, clarinetist Ken Maranian, percussionists Anne Alexander and Jay Whitley), the show will feature a number of guest musicians, some of Austin’s best instrumentalists including Mike Maddux on piano and accordion, Lisa Schneider on the violin and Victor Eijkhout on the bass. There will also be belly dancers and tango dancers who will accompany the music throughout the show. There will be Latin as well as Persian food available for purchase for those who want to experience the two cultures more wholly.
Ojala’s 2001 self-titled CD has received rave reviews internationally and has been featured on NPR’s national syndicated program Latino USA and the BBC World Service. The CD is available online, and, in most Austin record stores. For more info.