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| TRACKLIST |
| 1. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction [0:06:19.17] 2. Honky Tonk Women (Organ Trio) [0:04:33.58] 3. Slippin' Away [0:06:41.27] 4. Street Fighting Man [0:07:02.43] 5. Wild Horses [0:08:01.34] 6. Waiting On A Friend [0:07:11.10] 7. Paint It Black [0:10:06.60] 8. Honky Tonk Women (Keith's Version) [0:05:33.52] 9. Ruby Tuesday [0:03:50.64] 10. Gimme Shelter [0:08:39.00] 11. Belleli [0:05:25.24] |
Biography: by David Jeffries
Wearing numerous hats and having a deep résumé with plenty of famous names on it is par for the course for top-notch pickup and session musicians. Saxophonist Tim Ries went one better by cultivating a healthy solo career through a series of well-regarded solo albums, respected compositions and arrangements, and a sound Rolling Stone legend Keith Richards described as "amazing." A graduate of the University of North Texas and the University of Michigan, Ries made his recording debut in 1983 on Maynard Ferguson's Live from San Francisco. His love of rock and jazz was first put to record in 1989 when he appeared on Bob Belden's Straight to My Heart: The Music of Sting. Four years later he was a featured name on the album Regards, sharing headlining credits with Franck Amsallem. Moo Records released Ries' first solo album, Imaginary Time, in 1994. Is That So? -- which was also credited as Amsallem/Ries -- was from a 1990 date, but the more abstract record didn't see release until 1996, the same year that Ries appeared on the Grammy-winning Joe Henderson album Big Band. Universal Spirits arrived in 1998 and featured frequent Ries collaborator Billy Drummond on drums. Ries had already done session work for plenty of pop/rock acts by this time (Donald Fagen, Paul Simon, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder, David Lee Roth, and many others), but in 1999 he got his biggest offer yet. While performing for President Clinton at the White House, the cell phone he forgot to shut off began ringing. It was an offer to tour with the Rolling Stones, an offer Ries immediately accepted. After an extensive tour with the Stones, Alternate Side from 2001 reintroduced Ries as a solo artist, but a year later he became a founding member of the Prism Saxophone Quartet, whose debut, Real Standard Time, was released by the Innova label. Another tour with the Stones took up most of his time during 2003-2004 and inspired Ries to write his own jazz arrangements of Mick and Keith's compositions. The results were road-tested on an American tour and then released in 2005 as The Rolling Stones Project on the Concord label.
Review: by Alex Henderson
Jazz interpretations of popular songs have long been an important part of the jazz experience, but regrettably, that tradition has been plagued by two unfortunate trends in the '90s and the 21st century. At one extreme are the ideologues who believe that worthwhile popular music ended with the George Gershwin/Irving Berlin/Cole Porter era and insist on playing the same old warhorses over and over -- and at the other extreme are the smooth jazz players who think that performing note-for-note Muzak covers of Top 40 tunes is creative. But there are some imaginative improvisers who are using rock and R&B songs as vehicles for real, honest to God jazz expression -- people like the Bad Plus, England's Claire Martin, and Philadelphia singer Lou Lanza (who paid tribute to the Doors on his excellent Opening Doors album). And on The Rolling Stones Project, tenor/soprano saxman Tim Ries reminds listeners how nicely the Stones' songbook can work in a jazz-oriented environment. This post-bop/soul-jazz effort isn't without its flaws; the opener, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," is ruined by the pointless background vocals of Bernard Fowler, who repeats the song's chorus over and over (without singing the verses) and merely gets in the way of Ries' expressive tenor. But when Ries' largely instrumental Stones tribute is great, it's really great. The saxman soars on an organ combo version of "Honky Tonk Women" (with organist Larry Goldings and Stones drummer Charlie Watts), and Ries is equally imaginative on a Brazilian-influenced arrangement of "Street Fighting Man" and a probing, somewhat Michael Brecker-ish take on "Paint It Black." Singer Norah Jones has a memorable spot on "Wild Horses"; her performance is jazzy pop/rock rather than actual vocal jazz, but she's enjoyably good at what she does. Despite some occasional missteps, The Rolling Stones Project has more ups than downs and is well worth the price of admission.
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