Best Local Acoustic Performer

You've heard of drum and bass? Angela Patua does drum and voice, bouncing her melodies against the beat in a crude counterpoint that originated long ago in Nigeria and needs no electricity. Patua also does guitar and voice. Her syncopated strumming is a joyful reminder that the acoustic guitar is a rhythm instrument that needs no amplification. The sounds of vibrating nylon strings over a wood box (i.e., her Spanish guitar) blend with her mellifluous, rough-along-the-edges vocals (in Portuguese, Yoruba, and other Brazilian dialects) to produce a feeling that seems to have traveled from far away. From her native Southeastern Brazil, perhaps. Or somewhere much more distant. In the Macumba religion, which Patua practices, things from heaven come down to Earth. In 2000 the frequency of Angela-ic manna decreased when her weekly gig at Big Fish ended. But keep looking skyward in the Tobacco Road vicinity in 2001. Or send a prayer to Evol Egg Nart Recordings (www.nartworld.com) for deliverance of her CD, The Force of the Sun.