I love mridangam sound: Rolling Stones saxophonist : India

By Madhusree Chatterjee

New Delhi, Feb 2 - Tim Ries, the Rolling Stones saxophonist, who is in India on a five-city tour as part of a world music band, says Hindustani classical music has inspired him and he has been listening to Indian music for 30 years.

'Indian music has always inspired me. For the last 30 years, I have been listening to Indian music,' Ries, who is on a two-year break, told IANS in an interview here.

'I lived for a while with an Indian percussionist in the 1970s who played the 'tabla'. He introduced me to Hindustani classical music. I love the sound of the mridangam and clay pots,' he said.

Ries is working on a new individual album, 'Life Changes' - the third in a series of a jazz-based global music project.

' 'Life Changes' will hit the market in spring. This album is slightly different from my last two CDs - the Rolling Stones Project in 2005 and the Stones World in 2008.'

Ries said 72 musicians from 16 countries in nine languages contributed to the making of the Stones World while the Rolling Stones Project featured 24 musicians.

'The Stones World even featured a tabla player from Kolkata, Badal Roy, a flamenco dancer and a Fado singer from Portugal and a Brazilian vocalist. The albums were recorded between the Rolling Stones world tour in locations as varied as New York, California, Spain, Portugal and London,' Ries said.

The musician is collaborating with Indian sitar maestro Ustad Shujaat Khan.

Recalling the making of the album, Ries said, 'Every bit of the music was recorded live. We would all gather in a big room in a circle and everyone would hear each other's sound on their ear phones and synchronise.'

Ries hails from the Detroit area. His father Jack Ries was a professional trumpet player, while his mother played the piano and his sisters sang. At eight, a young Ries spotted a saxophone player on one of his father's gigs and decided to learn to play the instrument.

'In 1999, a good friend of mine, Michael Davies, the trombonist with The Rolling Stones' horn section, told me that the saxophonist had left the band to play for Paul Simon. He called me over to San Francisco and I joined the Rolling Stones,' Ries said.

Ries, whose favourite Stones numbers include 'Moonlight mile', 'Loving cup', 'Sticky Finger' and the 'Bridges to Babylon' - the Stones' 21st studio album - has also worked for a Martin Scorsese movie, 'Shine A Light', 'which features a live saxophone concert by the musician'.

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