Actually, it’s not only rock ‘n’ roll

THE Rolling Stones and jazz? Those are not two terms one expects to see in the same sentence. So what is one to make of “The Rolling Stones Project” (Concord), the new CD by saxophonist Tim Ries that consists almost completely of Rolling Stones songs interpreted by a stellar group of jazz artists?

Let’s get a little context first. The Stones, in fact, have not really been all that distant from jazz, at least individually. Keith Richards expressed his affection for John Coltrane to me decades ago. And Charlie Watts has been assembling, recording and performing with various jazz groups for years.

Equally significantly, Ries has been part of the Stones’ backup ensemble since 1999, so he brings to the project a familiarity with the music, as well as the presence of Stones band members Richards, Watts and Ron Wood (who also did the cover art) on a few tracks.

But the question remains: How does one adapt the intensely genre-specific music of the Rolling Stones to a vastly different musical environment?

Ries’ first answer is to never forget that he is an instrumental jazz artist. The second is to remember that it is Ries’ project, and his playing should be front and center.

Despite the presence of singers Sheryl Crow, Luciana Souza, Lisa Fischer, Bernard Fowler and Norah Jones, it is Ries’ muscular tenor saxophone that takes most of the melodic leads before digging into a series of briskly strutting solos.

Also prominent are the inventive guitar work of John Scofield and Bill Frisell and the soulful organ playing of Larry Goldings. And it’s fascinating to hear alternate versions of “Honky Tonk Woman,” the first featuring Ries in a roadhouse trio with Goldings and Watts, the second far closer to the original, with Fischer’s marvelously insinuating vocals joining Ries’ saxophone to take on the Mick Jagger role over Richards’ rocking guitar and Watts’ in-the-groove drumming.

“Slippin’ Away” is another fascinating hybrid in which the voices of Crow, Richards and current Stones bassist Darryl Jones drift through the background textures, creating an atmospheric setting for Ries’ centerpiece solo.

“Street Fighting Man” takes a different tack, building over a hard-swinging, Latin-tinged rhythm in a powerful jazz interpretation showcasing the soloing of Ries, pianist Edward Simon and an all-join-in improvised ending. And on “Wild Horses,” Jones provides the album’s only spotlight vocal, a touching rendering of one of the most intimate Jagger/Richards tunes, enhanced by Ries’ soaring soprano saxophone.

There’s much more on this always engaging CD: the interface between Ben Monder’s aggressively contemporary guitar and Brian Blade’s drums on “Paint It Black”; the warm duet between Frisell’s guitar and Ries’ soprano on “Ruby Tuesday”; the concluding “Belleli,” a Ries original and the only non-Stones piece.

This is a collection of performances that should please dedicated Stones fans as well as avid jazz listeners. At its best -- actually, on almost every track -- it illustrates the manner in which good music can make boundary lines irrelevant.

Here are some other recent and worthy jazz arrivals, some new, some unheard for many years.

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Don Ellis

“Essence” (Pacific Jazz/EMI/Mighty Quinn)

It’s sad to say that the revival of Don Ellis remains due for sometime in the nonspecific future. That’s a shame, because the trumpeter-composer-bandleader, who died in 1978 at 44, was one of jazz’s true originals. Never content with the status quo, he ranged across wildly difficult meters, from small groups to big bands, from film music to the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics.

“Essence,” which features Ellis with pianist Paul Bley, bassist Gary Peacock and alternating drummers Gene Stone and Nick Martinis, was recorded in 1962 and has been previously unavailable on CD.

Ellis described it as a typical set that he would play in clubs, mixing his more edgy, wide-open pieces with an occasional standard. His trumpet work, tinged with the influence of Dizzy Gillespie, is vigorous and enthusiastic on the standards, and stunningly virtuosic on the odd-metered numbers. Future releases from Mighty Quinn, a label devoted to issuing quality recordings on CD for the first time, include albums by Pepper Adams and Harold Land.

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Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane

“Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane: Live at Carnegie Hall” (Blue Note)

The few months in which Monk and Coltrane worked together in 1957 represented a momentous period for both artists. Monk had just regained his New York City cabaret card after several years of absence from the Manhattan jazz scene, and Coltrane was recovering his health and his music, finally kicking his heroin addiction after being fired from the Miles Davis band.

After performing for a few months at the Five Spot club, the Monk quartet appeared on a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall. The professionally recorded tapes of their performance, presumably lost for decades, surfaced early this year and are now issued for the first time -- expanding the few rare recorded chronicles of this important partnership. Every track is an utter gem, from the gorgeous renderings of “Monk’s Mood” and “Crepuscule With Nellie” to an epic, idiosyncratic rendering of “Sweet and Lovely.” This extraordinary recording belongs in every jazz fan’s collection.