“Marika Groove” is a twelve-minute instrumental tour-de-force by Chick Corea written for virtuoso marimba soloist Mika Yoshida and Grammy®-winning clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. Drummer Steve Gadd and bassist Eddie Gomez join Yoshida and Stoltzman to capture Corea's composition in a sprawling, ebullient track featuring finely-honed instrumental interplay, muscular rhythmic structures, and ceaselessly inventive melodies, which Yoshida delivers with her signature inspiration and aplomb. The track was recorded at Avatar Studios in New York NY, engineered by Jay Messina, and produced by Gadd and Yoshida.
"Creating this composition for Mika Yoshida was a pure joy. Her only request to the composer was to have 'groove' be part of the composition. So Groove we have - especially for this special premiere with the great Steve Gadd and the virtuosic Eddie Gomez. And a special joy to also write for my old friend Richard Stoltzman - the rubato solo in the middle is written especially for him.
"The piece was written so it could be performed with the exactly written notes or with the players freely interpreting their parts and improvising their solos - except for the drum part which is totally Steve Gadd's creation. Mika brings a joyful enthusiasm to the marimba that is captivating and, being a marimba enthusiast myself, I spent some time playing my marimba at home to help me conjure the phrases that make up 'Marika Groove'."
