Ojalá is a Spanish word meaning "God grant!" or "I hope so!". It has its roots in the Arabic word "Inshallah!" which means "God grant!" or "God willing!", and which entered both Spanish and Persian languages following the spread of the Arab empire to the East and the West. Ojala is the CD project of Javier Palacios of Monterey, Mexico, and Kamran Hooshmand of Tehran, Iran.

Javier Palacios was born in Matamoros, Tamahulipas Mexico and grew up in Monterrey and Nuevo Leon Mexico. He began singing professionally when he joined the theater company of the School of Philosophy at the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, where he worked for several years. During this time Javier also sang with the first Grupo Silencio (Canto Nuevo), Grupo Pionero (Latin American Folk Music), and Grupo Giron (Canto Nuevo).

Javier has been active in Austin?s Latin American music scene since 1986. During that time, he was one of the founders of the second Grupo Silencio (Latin American Folk Music) and of grupo Centzontle. Grupo Centzontle recorded the CD, Centzontle, a collection of Latin American music in which two of the songs were written by Javier. One of these songs, Alas Rotas, is also included on the CD, On Any Given Evening, a promotional CD of Austin music put together by the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau. With Grupo Sazon, Javier has sung Salsa and Merengue music.

Javier has also appeared with many other artists including opening with the Puertorican Trovadora, Lourdes Perez, for the Argentinian diva, Mercedes Sosa, in 1996. In mid 1990?s, Javier was part of the performances, ?Las Penas Culturales? at the Austin music venues Chicago House and The Victory Grill.

Besides Ojala, Javier has also been working on a his own solo CD project.

In the mid-80s, Kamran found that he had a renewed interest in the music of his native lands--classical, folk, and popular musics from Iran and the Middle East. Kamran taught himself playing traditional Persian and Middle Eastern instruments, such as the saz lute (AKA: baglama, tanbour), the oud lute(AKA: ?ud, ?ut, laud Arabe, barbat), and the daf frame drum. Kamran has been exploring the performing possibilities of the Middle Eastern lute, the Oud, his specialty Middle Eastern instrument, for 17 years. He has played the oud in various musical traditions from Sephardic (featured on Austin?s own Rubinchik?s Orchestyr?s CD, Flipnotics Freileichs), to Flamenco (featured on Austin?s own Teye's CD, Viva El Flamenco) to Mideaval and Early Music (member of the Texas Early Music Project (TEMP)). He has been the oud player for the Persian classical ensemble, Del-Ava, which has toured select cities around the US. Besides the Oud, He is also familiar with the Santur (hammered dulcimer), the Robab (the Afghan lute), and various Middle Eastern and world percussion instruments.

In September 1987, he formed a group called 1001 Nights and performed his first public concert as a Persian musician at little venue on 607 Trinity in Austin, Texas called the Chicago House. In 1990, Kamran formed the group Kamran Hooshmand and 1001 Nights. This group performed widely throughout Austin, Texas. In April 1997, Kamran produced his first CD called Salaam. This CD is currently out of print. From 1991-1993, he was a member of the first UT Middle Eastern Ensemble directed by Dr. Anne Rasmussen, as an oud player.

Mr. Hooshmand holds a masters degree in Middle Eastern Studies with a focus in ethnomusicology from the University of Texas at Austin. His recordings include music for the award-winning interactive CD-ROM, Nile: Passage To Egypt produced by Human Code. He also contributed to the score for the documentary film, The Road to Peace, produced by Dr. Elizabeth Fernea, professor of literature at the University of Texas at Austin. Musically, Kamran has worked with maestros Ostad Mohammad Reza Lotfi, Dr. Mojtaba Khoshzamir, and Daniel Johnson. He has also composed music for dance and theatre including for Oscar Wilde's play Salome.

Kamran's experiences in Texas and his years of playing Latin American music has fundamentally influenced his style in playing, arranging and composing music. In his own words, "Ojala has fullfilled a dream for me by bringing together two of my major musical influences, Latin and Persian. It's a reunification of my past and present."

Beside's Ojala, Kamran?s latest musical accomplishment includes the directing of his Middle Eastern ensemble, 1001 Nights Orchestra which garnered a Best of Austin 1999 award by the Austin Chronicle, for the arrangement and live performance of an original score to the 1924 silent classic film, Thief of Bagdad. The performance received rave reviews.