PERFORMING ARTS

A talkative artist in English and Spanish, India improvised over-the-top, jazzy between-songs tributes to the audience when she wasn't offering inspirational spoken words. Rocking up and down in high heels and black miniskirt, she versified with her male backup singers as the band passionately banged out a noisy, syncopated groove of timbales, cowbell and brass. She closed her set with Eddie Palmieri's "Mi Primera Rumba." It had only been an hour-long performance, but she'd worked hard every minute, and had the sweat and eyeliner running down her face to prove it.

-- Steve Kiviat

Pepe Romero

There are few things in life as elegantly seductive as the Spanish guitar. Just ask anyone who heard Pepe Romero's brilliant recital Saturday night at Westmoreland Congregational Church. Playing to a packed house, Romero showed why he's one of the great guitarists of our time: He marries complete virtuosity and exceptional refinement, all in the service of music that he feels as deeply as anyone alive.

And what extraordinary music this is. Romero's guitar work was a homage to the power of quiet sensuality and intense passion, as he traveled from the moving "Homanaje" of Manuel de Falla, to the fiery, flamenco-steeped music of Agustin Castellon, to his own lyrical Andalusian piece. The drama and technical complexity of this music are temptations to the showman. But its deepest beauties are revealed only when the passion is restrained and the heart held back -- and at this, Romero is a master. Even in virtuosic display pieces such as Francisco Tarrega's ferocious "Gran Jota," a tour de force that evokes everything from snare drums to marching boots, Romero always stays behind the music, etching every detail with precision.

But it was in the more lyrical, inward-looking works, such as Enrique Granados's haunting "La Maja de Goya" and the rhapsodic "Fandanguillo" of Joaquin Turina, that Romero showed how profound a musician he is. There was not a thoughtless note in any of it, only introspective and almost intimate playing, as if he were alone, quietly thinking, in a sun-drenched Spanish landscape.

-- Stephen Brookes

Wes Tucker and The Skillets

Wes Tucker and the Skillets sound like a country band in name only. On Thursday night at Iota, the Arlington quartet showcased solid songwriting and tight instrumentation in musical styles ranging from funk to groove-based R&B to soulful jam-based ballads.

Tucker, who played acoustic guitar as he sang, was a strong stage presence, firmly in command of the material, most of which came from the band's new album, "Beauty in the Broken." His muscular vocals easily fit the ever-changing tempos of the tunes while maintaining the heartfelt intent of the image-laden lyrics.

The show shifted gears when lead guitarist Bryan Washam, whose funk riffs and solos entirely suited the material, and bassist Arch Alcantara, who provided a solid bottom with drummer Dave Rutkowski, traded instruments. Alcantara's bottleneck-slide style of playing was fiery and rock-based, raising the energy of the room even higher.

As skillful as the Skillets' playing was, the most impressive aspect was the songwriting. Tucker's tunes are sturdy without being rigid, soulful without being cloying, and he expresses them like he believes the words.

The night's opener, Duluth, Minn.'s Trampled by Turtles, made a memorable impression in its Iota debut. The four-piece band, seated in chairs across the stage, made a joyful racket in its short set, blending mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar and acoustic bass to find a niche in bluegrass that combines the tunefulness of Nickel Creek and the fury of the Avett Brothers.

-- Buzz McClain