Saxophonist/composer Tim Ries an extraordinary jazz musician and member of the Rolling Stones touring band since 1999 translates the Stones immortal songbook into uncharted jazz-influenced, world music territories in Stones World: The Rolling Stones Project II (release date 10/21/08). Born from Ries world tours with the band, the album is a two-CD, 13-track organic exploration of the worlds musical melting pot that unites an impressive roster of international musicians performing jazz rearrangements of the Stones classics. Led by Ries on tenor, soprano, and alto saxophone, Stones World features performances by: Stones members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ronnie Wood; Stones band members Lisa Fischer (vocals), Bernard Fowler (vocals), and Michael Davis (trombone); and special guest artists including Latin-jazz pianist Eddie Palmieri, jazz drum giant Jack DeJohnette, Portuguese fado singer Ana Moura, Brazilian superstar Milton Nascimento, and flamenco dancer extraordinaire Sara Baras.

Showcasing 72 musicians from 17 varying countries and singing in nine different languages, Stones World is a listeners passport to several indigenous communities, cultures, and music. According to Ries, the album highlights musical styles particular to the regions they derive from. I set the music in the various world music styles, but the arrangements only serve as guides for the exceptional musicians involved in each sonic situation.

Save for the Ries lone original track A Funky Number with Japanese trumpeter Terumasa Hino, the rest of the selections are all Stones classics. To name a few: Miss You and Fool to Cry are Parisian-pulsed waltz and accordion-featured tracks driven by Watts sensitive drumming and French pianist Franck Amsallem; Brown Sugar and No Expectations are rendered as passionate Portuguese fado songs sung by fadista Ana Moura; Indian tabla master Badal Roy provides the sub-continental syncopations on Angie; the North African, blues-Berber beat on Hey Negrita with the Tuareg band Tidawt, is laced with Jaggers down-home harmonica solo and Woods slamming grooves; and Salt of the Earth is an all-embracing selection drawing from the Americas, Asia, Brazil, Europe and Africa, in seven languages with a multitude of vocalists. A 2008 nationwide tour of Stones World is scheduled launched by a CD release concert series at the Jazz Standard, NYC, October 28-30th.

About Tim Ries

A well-rounded artist who has worked with everybody from Sheryl Crow and Steely Dan to Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon, Tim Ries has released six critically acclaimed jazz records as a leader. Stones World is Ries long-anticipated follow-up to his 2005 Concord release The Rolling Stones Project. He has written over one hundred compositions in both the jazz and classical idioms and has performed and/or recorded Norah Jones, Bill Frisell, John Scofield, Bill Charlap, Larry Goldings, Joe Henderson, and others. Ries is currently teaching as a visiting professor of music at The University of Toronto.