Track 2: Dolor de Muelas and Manic Management...

The second track that we are going to look at is called, 'Dolor de Muelas'.
In case you are bemused about the title, I should explain that when translated it means, toothache.
The reason being that it was composed and recorded when Robin was suffering from a particularly painful bout of toothache!
However, that isn't apparent in the music, as the piece is in a freewheeling samba groove, with much improvisation.

The Samba is one of the most popular forms of music in Brazil, and surprisingly also in Japan. The genre combines several different cultures, especially the musical aspects of African and Latino heritage, and continues to evolve within Brazilian culture today.

Originally the Samba was a generic term depicting the choreography of 'circle-dances' imported from Angola and the Congo.
A characteristic element of the Samba is the 'umbigada', which is an, 'invitation to dance', by the touching of the couple's navels!
Gradually, by the late 19th Century, the dance became urbanized, with the urban versions differing substantially from the rural folk sambas.

The Samba continued to gain notoriety as a distinctive kind of music, at the beginning of the 20th Century, in Rio de Janeiro.

On this recording Robin is also playing some of the percussion. So feel free to get into the Samba groove and dance along...

Today I am calming down after a particularly stressful couple of days.
On Wednesday evening I took a call from our London agent asking if Robin would be able to get to India by Monday.
The dates were fine, but, a visa is required for entry to India.
I consequently spent most of Wednesday evening, and all of Thursday, trying to resolve the problem.
After many 'phone calls between me, London and America, the only way forward would be to extend the trip and unfortunately due to previous commitments we were unable to do so.
I certainly couldn't expect Robin to arrive home from an overnight flight and perform the same day.
So despite our best efforts, on this occasion we had to concede defeat.
Still, you can't say we didn't try.