New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The creative duo of two-time Grammy-winning album
Divine Tides - Stewart Copeland and Grammy-winning Indian musician/composer Ricky Kej - announce their latest world music collaboration,
Police Beyond Borders. Furthering their mission to feature leading talent from around the world, the album, recorded in Bangalore, is a reinterpretation of the seminal 80s band's classic songs with diverse interpretations and artist representation from South Africa, India, Japan, China, Canada, the U.K., and more.
Copeland and Kej have enlisted top international artists, including South Africa's Grammy-winning Soweto Gospel Choir; China's "Father Of Rock" Cui Jian; U.S.-based Berklee Indian Ensemble; Japanese Grammy-winner for Best Global
Music Album, Masa Takumi; South Africa's acclaimed Mzansi Youth Choir; leading Indian composer/singer Shankar Mahadevan; renowned British classical trumpeter Alison Balsom; multi-award winning Canadian flutist Ron Korb; legendary Bollywood composers and brother duo Salim-Sulaiman, hammered dulcimer virtuoso Max ZT; and multi-instrumentalist
Serj Tankian of metal band
System of a Down.
Of the recording Stewart Copeland said, "It was Ricky Kej who suggested that we make a global album out of the
Police derangements. It was a lightbulb moment. Of course! The
Police was always a global band; we toured all over it and
Sting wrote songs about the bigger picture of humanity.
The idea of hearing the songs in exotic languages was immediately inspiring and Ricky set about finding the magnificent talents on this record. As with all of the musicians and singers on this record, we exhorted them to step beyond, to take the songs into new places. They sure did do that!
The Police' music essentially derives from
Black culture, and it was particularly spine-tingling to hear that culture arriving back in Africa. Every Breath You Take in Zulu! All the flavors of the different languages lit up these tunes that are so familiar. I hope that familiarity will give a comfortable vantage point for anyone to experience music styles that might otherwise sound alien.
Music evolved in Homo sapiens as a bonding social skill. My humble hope is that this record can contribute to that human bonding on this shrinking planet."
"It was a huge honor to collaborate with my musical idol Stewart Copeland yet again. After having won 2 Grammy awards with Stewart,
Police Beyond Borders is now the biggest, most epic album I have ever been a part of. It is a truly global album featuring musicians, voices and languages from across the world. These are songs that I have grown up listening to, songs that have shaped my music career.. so during the making of this album I paid a lot of respect to its legacy. I am certain our listeners will enjoy these legendary songs in a way they would have never imagined, and realize that music is the most universal language," said Ricky Kej.
POLICE BEYOND BORDERS TRACKLIST:
King of Pain (feat. Berklee Indian Ensemble)
Roxanne (feat. Mzansi Youth Choir)
Message in a Bottle (feat. Salim-Sulaiman, Masa Takumi)
Tea in the
Sahara (Cui Jian)
Don't Stand So Close To Me (Soweto Gospel Choir, Ron Korb)
Every Little Thing She Does is Magic (feat. Berklee Indian Ensemble)
Can't Stand Losing You (Mzansi Youth Choir, Max ZT)
Murder By Numbers (Alison Balsom, Shankar Mahadevan, Max ZT)
Demolition Man (featuring Serj Tankian)
Every Breath You Take (Soweto Gospel Choir)
The recently released
Police Deranged for Orchestra (Shelter/BMG) is Copeland's exploration of the Police's popular tracks through a new orchestral lens and was inspired by his forays into expansive musical forms and instrumentation. It features performances by locally-based symphony orchestras with a core, six-member band/vocal ensemble. Copeland has now toured with sold-out dates across the U.S. and Europe, and will continue with additional U.S. dates this fall. See updated information atwww.stewartcopeland.net/716/events-and-tours
STEWART COPELAND ON TOUR: POLICE DERANGED FOR ORCHESTRA
September 30: Omaha, Nebraska, US - Holland Center
October 5: Denver, Colorado, US - Boettcher Concert Hall
October 8: Detroit, Michigan, US - Orchestra Hall
October 19: Carmel, Indiana, US - The Palladium - Center for the Performing Arts
October 21: Erie, Pennsylvania, US - Warner Theatre
October 22: Erie, Pennsylvania, US - Warner Theatre
This year also brings the October release of Stewart Copeland's
Police Diaries, published by Rocket 88 Books and available in three editions. The book is based on and includes Copeland's personal pocket diary entries from 1976-79. With scans of original pages and Copeland's new background commentary, its pages are illustrated with classic and previously unseen photos from the early "starving years" of a band poised for global success. More information on Stewart Copeland's
Police Diaries can be found here, and read more here in the meantime at Rolling Stone. "It's full of my original diary pages, hand-made poster designs, ragged accounts, callow observations and other scribblings of a proto-rock star, illuminated by hitherto unseen vintage photos from the deepest vaults," Copeland told SPIN earlier this year. "It's a big, noisy book about one heckuva ride."
Concurrent with his early work with The Police, Copeland developed a solo recording alter-ego, Klark Kent, releasing singles and a self-titled 1980 album on which he played all the instruments, - even vocals. The cult album was re-released on April 14th (Record Store Day) on BMG. Klark Kent was credited with inspiring Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) among many others.
Stewart Copeland has spent more than three decades at the forefront of contemporary music, as a rock star and acclaimed film composer, and across the worlds of opera, ballet, chamber, and world music. Recruiting
Sting and Andy Summers in 1977, Copeland is renowned as the founder of The Police, a band that became a defining force in rock music from the 80s to the present day. His career includes the sale of more than 60 million records worldwide and numerous awards, including seven Grammy awards—most recently a 2023 Grammy for Best Immersive Audio Album and a 2022 Best New Age award for
Divine Tides, a collaboration with Indian musician Ricky Kej.
He has composed dozens of film and tv scores, including Francis Coppola's Rumblefish,
Oliver Stone's Wall St. and Talk Radio, Simpatico, The Pallbearer, Boys, Earth Girls are Easy, Silent Fall, Highlander II—The Quickening, The Equalizer, Dead Like Me, and Boys and Girls, among many others. In 2007 Copeland was honored as the Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts in Paris and will be on the Jury at the Cannes International Series Festival, Canneseries, in France this April 2023.
Copeland's operatic works include two based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe---The Cask of Amontillado and The Tell-Tale Heart; The Invention of Morel, a surreal 2017 chamber opera which premiered at
Chicago Opera Theatre; Electric Saint, a 2021 Weimar DNT premiere; Satan's Fall—an oratorio based on Milton's Paradise Lost, which was performed across the U.S. in 2021 with UK and European performances still to come; and The Witches Seed, his new collaboration with creative partner and
Pretenders lead singer/songwriter Chrissie Hynde.
Three-time Grammy Award Winner, U.S. Billboard #1 artist, and GQ Hero 2020, Ricky Kej is an internationally renowned Indian music composer and environmentalist. He has performed at prestigious venues in more than 30 countries including the UN Headquarters in New York and Geneva. Ricky has won over 100 music awards in 20 countries. He serves as the United Nations Refugees "Goodwill Ambassador," UNCCD "Land Ambassador," UNESCO MGIET "Global Ambassador for Kindness," UNICEF "Celebrity Supporter," and Ambassador for "Earth Day Network."
Kej's vast repertoire of work includes 16 studio albums released internationally, over 3500 commercials, and four feature films, including the natural history documentary Wild Karnataka, narrated by Sir
David Attenborough. Visit www.kejbykej.com
Mzansi Youth Choir of South Africa was established to give talented, underprivileged teenagers and young adults the opportunity to perform proficiently locally and abroad. Their repertoire is an exciting mix of South African music, which has elements of traditional music, pop, and jazz. They have performed on America's Got Talent, The Voice, Dancing with the Stars, The South African
Music Awards, and many more.
Berklee Indian Ensemble was founded in 2011 by the first Indian musician on Berklee's faculty, Annette Philip. It's a world-renowned collective, known for its global Indian sound along with a cross-pollination of genres and cultures. With nearly 300 million views, the ensemble was in such demand globally that it transitioned to a professional band in 2021.Their album Shuruaat was Grammy-nominated in 2022.
Soweto Gospel Choir was formed in 2002 to celebrate the unique and inspirational power of African Gospel music. The choir draws on the best talent from the many churches in and around Soweto. The Choir has won three Grammy Awards in the Traditional World
Music category and was nominated for an Academy Award for "Down to Earth" from the film Wall-E.
Cui Jian (pronounced Swan Jen), Beijing-born multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and vocalist, is the most influential rock musician in China. The former leader of Chinese rock band Ado, Jian's music as a soloist has continued to be embraced by the youth of China. His albums have sold more than ten million copies in Asia. He is often called "the father of Chinese rock."
Alison Balsom is an English trumpet soloist, arranger, producer, and music educator. She was named Artist of the Year at the 2013 Gramophone Awards and has won three Classic Brit Awards and three German Echo Awards. In 2014 Balsom was chosen as one of 27 artists, including
Stevie Wonder and Elton John, in one of BBC Music's first broadcasts, with an extravagant cover of the
Beach Boys classic, "
God Only Knows".
Shankar Mahadevan is recognized as one of the greatest composers/singers in India. He has composed music for over 100 Bollywood films, and also tours as part of John McLaughlin's Shakti as its lead singer. Mahadevan has more than 11 million followers across FaceBook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Masa Takumi is a Japanese multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer. He won a 2023 Grammy Award for Best Global Album for his solo album Sakura, and was Grammy-nominated in 2014 for Best Reggae Album.
Salim-Sulaiman (brothers Salim and Sulaiman Merchant) are among India's most respected composers, having scored more than 100 films and tv shows and released several records incorporating electronica, cinematic folk and sufi influences in their music.
Ron Korb is a multi-award-winning flutist, famous for playing a wide variety indigenous woodwinds from around the world. He has 5 Grammy Certificates, 4 of them from winning albums including "Divine Tides" by Stewart Copeland and Ricky Kej for Best Immersive Audio Album and "
Sakura" by Masa Takumi for Best Global
Music Album.
Serj Tankian is an Armenian-American songwriter, composer, artist, activist, and producer best known for his role as the lead singer of
System Of A Down, his innovative visual art style, and human rights advocacy.
Police Beyond Borders Album Credits:
Police Beyond Borders by Stewart Copeland featuring Ricky Kej
Arrangements, orchestration, drums, percussion: Stewart Copeland
Produced by: Ricky Kej,
Craig Stuart Garfinkle, Lonnie Park
Executive producer: Tarquin Gotch, Moema Parrott, Edwin Outwater
Additional arrangements: Ricky Kej
Post-engineering, stems by: Ricky Kej, Vanil Veigas, Lonnie Park,
Craig Stuart Garfinkle
Mixed, mastered by: Eric Schilling, Herbert Waltl,
Douglas Battle
Mix Studio: MediaHYPERIUM by Herbert Waltl
Orchestra Conducted by: Edwin Outwater
Orchestra recorded by:
Craig Stuart Garfinkle
Associate Producer: Vanil Veigas, Vito Gregoli, Jon Samson, Ron Korb, Masa Takumi, Nishanth Ravindranathan, Diana Veigas
Choirs, vocals, global instruments arranged by: Ricky Kej, Stewart Copeland
Keyboards, additional programming: Ricky Kej
Recorded at Windmill Lane Studio Dublin, Ireland; Sacred Grove, Los Angeles, US
Additional engineering: Twelve O'clock Arts, Kilconnell, Ireland
Album art, graphics, promo clips: Shashank Akella
Ricky Kej Managed by: Nishanth Ravindranathan, Shashank Akella, Likhitha Prasanna, Diana Veigas
Stewart Copeland managed by: Tarquin Gotch, Moema Parrott (Harrison Parrott Group)
Recording Studio (India): Raveolution Studios, Bangalore.
