1. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
2. Honky Tonk Woman
3. Slippin’ Away
4. Street Fighting Man
5. Wild Horses
6. Waiting on a Friend
7. Paint It Black
8. Honky Tonk Women (Keith’s version)
9. Ruby Tuesday
10. Gimme Shelter
11. Belleli
Jeff Ballard (Percussion on tracks 1 and 4)
Bill Charlap (Piano on tracks 1, 7 and 10)
Michael Davis (Trombone on tracks 1 and 10)
Bernard Fowler (Vocals on track 1)
Larry Goldings (Organ on tracks 1, 2, 3 and
8)
John Patitucci (Bass on tracks 1, 4 and 10)
Clarence Penn (Drums on tracks 1, 4, and 5)
Tim Ries ( Tenor sax on tracks 1, 2, 3, 6,
7, 8, 10 and 11; soprano sax on tracks 4,
5 and 9)
John Scofield (Guitar on track 1)
Edward Simon (Piano on tracks 1 and 4)
Charlie Watts (Drums on tracks 2, 3, 6, 8
and 11)
Sheryl Crow (Vocals on track 3)
Darryl Jones (Bass and vocals on track 3;
bass on tracks 6 and 8)
Keith Richards (Guitar and vocals on track
3; guitar on track 8)
Ronnie Wood (Guitar on track 3)
Jeff Ballard (Percussion on track 4)
Ben Monder (Guitar on tracks 4 and 10)
Mauro Refosco (Percussion on track 4)
Kent Smith (Trumpet and flugelhorn on track
4)
Luciana Souza (Vocals on track 4)
Bill Frisell (Guitar on tracks 5, 6, 9 and
11)
Norah Jones (Vocals and piano on track 5)
Tony Scherr (Bass and vocals on track 5)
Stacey Shames (Harp on track 5)
Lisa Fischer (Vocals on tracks 6, 8 and 10)
Brian Blade (Drums on tracks 7 and 10)
Robert DiGiola (Piano on track 11)
Infuriating as it may be
for traditionalists, pop has long played a
vital role in inspiring jazz musicians. As
far back as the 1940s, the Tin Pan Alley favourites
provided the structures and chord progressions
for Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. In
his later years, the great Miles Davis brought
his inimitable trumpet style to interpretations
of Cyndi Lauper. And then, of course, there’s
My Favourite Things - John Coltrane’s acclaimed
version of the Sound of Music classic.
With this is in mind, it’s
surprising that - aside from Jimmy Smith’s
cover of (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction and
a later take on Wild Horses by organist Johnny
Hammond Smith - The Rolling Stones have so
long remained uncharted territory for modern
jazz.
Of course, not many arrangers
have been so closely connected with the Stones
as Tim Ries, who toured with the group in
1999, playing saxophone, keyboard and organ.
It was at the conclusion of this tour that
he recorded his second album for the Criss
Cross label, which included a rendition of
Moonlight Mile. "The song had a loose
jazz feel and seemed to work quite well,"
he says in the linear notes to The Rolling
Stones Project. "In recording the song
it occurred to me that the music of the Stones
held great potential for jazz arrangements."
A couple of bars into this
album’s opener, (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,
and it’s easy to see what he means. From the
stomping groove of the verse to the staccato
blast of the chorus, it’s as if the song were
waiting to be reinvented in jazz. Ries draws
out an upbeat funk, while maintaining a certain
edginess in the bass and piano parts. The
technical brilliance of all the musicians
shows through instantly, particularly in Ries’s
sensitive sax playing, and John Scoffield’s
masterful guitar. There’s a lot of variation
too, the arrangement consistently fresh and
alive, never settling on the formulaic.
The entire collection, in
fact, is notable for its innovation. Ruby
Tuesday - which could have ruined by a heavy-handed
approach - is stripped down to its very essence,
Ries dueting on soprano sax with the great
guitarist, Bill Frisell. Street Fighting Man
is ingeniously performed in the style of Brazilian
street music, led admirably by Mauro Refosco’s
virtuosic percussion. And, in Paint it Black,
the band the explore the full potential experimental
jazz. Ben Monder’s guitar solo is a masterpiece
is in itself, hovering on the edge of dissonance,
then easing tension by eventually returning
to mutual harmonic ground. The whole piece,
meanwhile, is held together by Brian Blade’s
inspired drumming.
Altogether, there are 27
musicians involved in the project - including
three Rolling Stones members - each carefully
selected and placed on tracks most suited
to their styles. Sheryl Crow’s gorgeous vocals
bring ethereal beauty to Slipping Away. Keith
Richard’s trademark guitar is brilliantly
placed on Honkey Tonk Women. Lisa Fisher’s
bluesy voice adds a lot of soul to Waiting
on a Friend. The most inspired combination
of all, though, is Norah Jones with Wild Horses.
Jones, like Billie Holiday
before her, has something intrinsically moving
about her voice, making her perfectly suited
to this melancholic number. "Every other
track," says Ries, "is an instrumental
with vocal background, but I arranged Wild
Horses especially as a feature for Norah."
Slow, sparse and atmospheric, with sensitive
performances from Frisell on guitar, Rie’s
wife Stacy on harp, and Tony Scherr singing
backing vocals, the stage is set for Jones
to shine. "Norah," as Ries so eloquently
puts it, "you truly are a rare bird with
a song in your heart."
Stones fans, jazz fans, and,
yes, even purists will all find something
enjoyable here. Ries avoids the main pitfall
that arrangers of this kind of music face
- altering the tunes so dramatically that
the things that made them worth covering at
all are lost in the haze of obscurity. He
plays with tempos, keys and rhythms, alters
grooves and time signatures; but the great
melodies that defined the compositions of
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger are always
honoured, rather than distorted, in this incredible
piece of work.
Robert Gibson
CD Reviews
Concord Records. CCD-2260-2
