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Rupa & the April Fishes

Despite the fact that leader Rupa Marya is of Indian descent, the April Fishes sound like a gypsy band lost somewhere on the wild borders between East and West. A San Francisco MD in her nonmusical life, Marya sings in multiple languages as she and her cohorts freely mix styles ranging from tango to bossa nova to the music of gypsy campfires. It's nothing to hear snatches of Indian raga flowing underneath something that seems like a mad scientist's combination of Brazilian beats and French lyrics. Lyrically, Marya has an almost unique take on life, love and death since she's both a practicing physician and a newlywed. The truly amazing thing is that whether one speaks French, Spanish or Hindi, Marya manages to communicate her message. It may sound odd reading about it, but hearing it is both inherently joyous and instinctively intellectual. Fresh off a monthlong tour of Europe, Rupa and her April Fishes should be sharp as a new razor for this first-ever Houston performance.

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William Michael Smith