Japanese marimba extraordinaire Mika Stoltzman brings her wealth of experience to her latest Mikarimba album, Big Round Records’s Taperebá. Vibrant and bursting with flavour (just like the Brazilian fruit which the album derives its title from), the jazzy Taperebá features performances by Stoltzman and a circle of legendary fellow artists...

With over 25 Grammy Awards shared between the members on this record, Taperebá brings notable names from around the globe and a spectrum of musical experiences into one collection. Featuring the likes of Mika Stoltzman, her husband and Grammy Award-winning clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, and a lineup including the legendary bassist Eddie Gomez, iconic percussionist Steve Gadd and his son Duke, and Brazilian mandolin great Hamilton de Holanda, the album leads audiences through a lighthearted yet technically spellbinding listening experience with just the right amount of flare.

Each piece on the album was either written or arranged for Stoltzman, such as the Paul Simon classic '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover', arranged by Steve Gadd (who played drums on the original Simon version).

For me, one of the highlights was Kazunori Maruyama's arrangement of George Gershwin's 'Rhapsody In Blue'. The original is a song that we've all heard so many times in so many different guises. Here, Maruyama delivers a track close enough to the original to be instantly recognisable, but with enough flare and tweaking to sound different enough to be engaging.

A lighthearted and engagingly uplifting album.

Track listing:

Hamilton de Holanda, arr. Vittor Santos
01 - Taperebá (8:21)
Mika Stoltzman (marimba), Richard Stoltzman (clarinet), Steve Gadd (drums), Eddie Gomez (bass), Duke Gadd (percussion) and Hamilton de Holanda (10-string Brazilian mandolin)

Bill Douglas
02 - Return to Bahia (3:42)
Mika Stoltzman (marimba), Steve Gadd (drums), Eddie Gomez (bass), Duke Gadd (percussion

Sybarite5 - Sarah Whitney (violin 1), Monica Davis (violin 2), Angela Pickett (viola) and Yves Dharamraj (cello)

Paul Simon, arr. Steve Gadd
03 - 50 Ways to leave your lover (5:00)
Mika Stoltzman (marimba), Richard Stoltzman (clarinet), Steve Gadd (drums), Eddie Gomez (bass), Duke Gadd, (percussion) and Hamilton de Holanda (10-string Brazilian mandolin)

Mongo Santamaria, arr. David Matthews
04 - Afro Blue (6:02)
Mika Stoltzman (marimba), Richard Stoltzman (clarinet), Steve Gadd (drums), Eddie Gomez (bass) and Duke Gadd (percussion)

Chick Corea arr. Tim Garland
05 - Spain (7:37)
Mika Stoltzman (marimba), Richard Stoltzman (clarinet), Steve Gadd (drums), Eddie Gomez (bass) and Duke Gadd (percussion)

Sybarite5 - Sarah Whitney (violin 1), Monica Davis (violin 2), Angela Pickett (viola) and Yves Dharamraj (cello)

Julie Spencer, arr. Mika Stoltzman
06 - DJ Dog DemoKracy (4:28)
Mika Stoltzman (marimba), Steve Gadd (drums), Eddie Gomez (bass) and Duke Gadd (percussion)

George Gershwin, arr. Kazunori Maruyama
07 - Rhapsody In Blue (9:54)
Mika Stoltzman (marimba), Richard Stoltzman (clarinet), Eddie Gomez (bass) and Kazunori Maruyama (piano)

Pat Metheny, arr. Peter John Stoltzman
08 - Letter from Home (5:58)
Mika Stoltzman (marimba) and Richard Stoltzman (clarinet)

9

Darren Rea