Verde Vai at the Grosvenor Pub

Went to Verde Vai Monday night. Absolutely phenomenal. There are only 3 places outside of Rio where I have had that sensation of FLYING when the samba starts. California Brazil Camp (and then only for the last two days of the first week of advanced bateria); the Lions of Batucada; and now, Verde Vai.

(Verde Vai - get it? get it? Took me 2 months before I noticed!)

They take over the back room of a pub in south London every Monday night, and play for hours and hours. It was HOT.

Best of all was to find an unexpected assortment of friends there. Junior Teixeira, my tamborim teacher from Rio, came tiptoeing through the crowd toward me and grabbed me in a big bear hug. He's here on the Monobloco tour. Rob, my cheerful friend from Mocidade who has been so helpful arranging housing for me, was there; and his girlfriend Charlotte (who is going to take me horseback riding!). JP and Emily were there! I'd last seen them in Copacabana at the Monobloco parade, and before that in Olinda, and before that at Mocidade. Lauren, another girl I recognized from the Mocidade trip. Turns out the whole pack of them that I'd met in Rio are all Verde Vai players. It was that friendly Lions feeling (complete with people handing me free beer and weed - just like the Lions! Now THAT'S a real samba group.)

It was so sweet to be there playing with them.

and shit, they turn out to be incredible players, every one. Charlotte beside me, looking like such a sweet mild-mannered girl until she gets ripping on caixa. Rob turned out to be goddam brilliant on repique, and brilliant at directing (and he's also now the only gringo I've ever seen play frigideira). I was thrilled to see Rob play the exact same beautiful Mocidade entrada that I'd filmed Bruno doing months ago, at the quadra - currently my favorite entrada.

We got going way too fast once at a hyperspeed call-in and I couldn't believe how fun it was. I almost couldn't hang on to it for a second, but then I got hold of it, and ZOOM. The mestre (Joe) called us out - "That was too fast" - but JP and I glanced at each other and we were both grinning ear to ear. "That was great! That was great!" we hissed to each other.

Joe, who had seemed like a perfectly pleasant guy when I met him at a party a couple days ago, did one of those fascinating phase-changes into an alternate personality for leading, like a liquid turning to crystal. Formidable. A true alpha-wolf Rio mestre, and I do believe he could hold his own in an escola quadra. No messing around and if you fuck up, you sure know it right away; no hijinks, no talking back, pay attention and PLAY goddamit! But it's not intimidating because you know he is aimed at the music. And it works, the band plays like hell.

You can see a pic of the group at www.verdevai.com. Guess which one is Joe!

Best of all: they had singers and cavaquinho players! MELODY! oh man! I was soaring.

Verde Vai... only played with them once and I miss them already.