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Sonia and Disappear Fear Beachland Tavern Sunday, October 15 No, the woman in overalls behind the drum kit providing alternately driving, complex and subtly jazzy percussion behind singer-songwriter Sonia Rutstein isn't named "disappear fear." That's Laura Cerulli, the other half of the two- woman act that's billed confusingly as Sonia and Disappear Fear. But there's nothing confusing about the thrust of Rutstein's music. She blends musical styles like a master chef blends ingredients to form a homogeneous creation filled with diverse flavors - folk, rock, blues, Latin - that interact and speak to each other. Appropriately that's the message of Rutstein's new album, Tango, with songs in English, Spanish, Arabic and Hebrew about dissolving the borders that divide people. She made that clear as she introduced the song "Shorashim" from the new disc, talking about being at the Canadian/US border and watching seagulls flying back and forth "without passports ... of any kind" and thinking about "what it is God has created and what is created by man." The passionate song revealed her folkie, activist roots. The set-closing "Telepatia Sexual" came at the subject of erasing barriers from a different direction, with a sultry Latin melody, rapid-fire beat and Spanish lyrics. In between, Rutstein switched from acoustic to electric guitar and electric keyboard while Cerulli provided her own stream of banter during the tuning breaks about everything from fruit to signing their mailing list. Though some of the tunes showed the restraint one would expect from two musicians, focusing on the heartfelt lyrics, others, such as "Moment of Glory," rocked so hard it sounded like twice as many players were onstage. With Rutstein playing electric guitar, the title track from the 2004 CD No Bomb Is Smart, was explosive. In addition to providing her versatile drumming, Cerulli added harmonies as seamless as those provided in the earlier version of disappear fear by Rutstein's sister Cindy Frank. Though the Sunday night crowd at the Beachland Tavern was small, it was clear each person there connected deeply with the band's material and performance. - Anastasia Pantsios music@freetimes.com |