Walt Disney Records will release the original motion picture soundtrack for Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides on May 17, 2011.  Oscar® winner Hans Zimmer (“Inception,” “The Lion King”), composer for the three previous “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, once again captains the musical ship, in collaboration with acclaimed guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, and featured performances by legendary trumpet-player Arturo Sandoval.  The soundtrack album also showcases songs re-mixed by top DJs (including Adam Freeland, Photek, and Static Revenger).

Hans Zimmer is one of the film industry’s most respected and sought-after composers with a career that encompasses more than 100 film and television scores.  An Academy Award® winner for his score for “The Lion King,” Zimmer has also received eight additional Oscar® nominations for his work including “Inception,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “Gladiator,” “The Thin Red Line,” “Rain Man,” “As Good as It Gets,” “The Preacher’s Wife,” and “The Prince of Egypt.”  Other recent credits include “Rango,” “The Dark Knight” and “Batman Begins.” Among his many honors, Zimmer has also won two Golden Globes® and four Grammy Awards®.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has a distinctive Latin flavor.  Zimmer said, “We have Penelope Cruz playing Angelica, who’s Spanish, so I felt that there could be some Latin influences in the score for On Stranger Tides.”

To achieve this, Zimmer reached out to Rodrigo y Gabriela.  ”I’ve been a big fan of Mexican guitarists Rodrigo y Gabriela for years now,” said Zimmer, “and I asked them if they wanted to come and play with us.  We’ve been having a really great time with them being part of the musical world this film gets to inhabit.”

Rodrigo y Gabriela are considered the premier guitar-playing duo in the world.  They have sold over one million albums, have sold out arenas and headlined festivals worldwide, and in 2010 they were invited to share the stage with Beyonce for a state dinner at the White House. The collaboration with Hans Zimmer is their first film score—an exciting and defining moment in their career.  Their willingness to explore musical expression and to embrace new sounds irrespective of fashion or trends, as well as their point blank refusal to be pigeonholed as any particular genre, is the very foundation of Rodrigo y Gabriela.

For a key scene in the film, featuring a highly choreographed Tango between Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz, Hans Zimmer collaborated not only with Rodrigo y Gabriela but also Eduardo Cruz —Penelope’s brother, an up-and-coming composer/songwriter.   Also imparting a Latin flavor to the music is legendary jazz great Arturo Sandoval.  The Cuban born, four-time Grammy® Award–winner is the featured trumpet player for the score.

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Rob Marshall, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” captures the fun, excitement and humor that ignited the hit franchise—this time in Disney Digital 3D™. Johnny Depp returns to his iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow in this action-packed adventure that finds him crossing paths (and swords) with the enigmatic Angelica (Penelope Cruz). When she forces him aboard the “Queen Anne’s Revenge,” the ship of the legendary pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected journey to the fabled Fountain of Youth. Along the way Jack must use all his wiles to deal with the barbarous Blackbeard and his crew of zombies, Angelica, the ravishing pirate with whom he shares a dubious past, and the beautiful, enchanting mermaids whose masterful cunning can lure even the most seasoned sailor to his doom. The international cast includes franchise vets Geoffrey Rush as the indestructible Captain Hector Barbossa and Kevin R. McNally as Captain Jack’s longtime comrade Joshamee Gibbs, plus Sam Claflin as a stalwart missionary and Astrid Berges-Frisbey as a mysterious mermaid.

Walt Disney Pictures’ and Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” opens in theaters May 20, 2011, in Disney Digital 3D™, with screen story and screenplay by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, based on characters created by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert, and suggested by the novel by Tim Powers.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides original motion picture soundtrack will be available wherever music is sold on May 17, 2011. For more information on Walt Disney Records’ releases, please visit Disney.com/music, become a fan at Facebook.com/disneymusic or follow us at Twitter.com/disneymusic.

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