aaamusic | On 24, Feb 2011

One of the summer’s most highly anticipated blockbuster movies, “Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides” features original music by Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer and a first-time collaboration with the internationally acclaimed Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela.  Walt Disney Records will release the soundtrack for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides May 17, 2011.

“We’d always felt it a creative necessity that the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 4’ score have an original sound all its own and to distinguish itself from the first three films. With the inspiring addition of Rodrigo y Gabriela’s unique artistry under the direction of maestro Hans ‘Long John’ Zimmer, this iconic score franchise take its next step forward with an imaginative, fresh and individual new sound,” says Mitchell Leib, President of Music and Soundtracks for the Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Group and Disney Music Group.

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 three Grammy Awards.

Zimmer adds, “The way we’re working, the three of us are sitting in a room, I play average keyboards and they play brilliant guitars and we’re writing cues together. There’s a force, a ferocity, about their sound.”

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.

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Rob Marshall, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” captures the fun, adventure 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 an action-packed adventure. Crossing paths with the enigmatic Angelica (Penelope Cruz), he’s not sure if it’s love—or if she’s a ruthless con artist who’s using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. 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 adventure in which he doesn’t know whom to fear more: Blackbeard or Angelica, with whom he shares a mysterious past. The international cast includes franchise vets Geoffrey Rush as the vengeful 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, in association with Jerry Bruckheimer Films, presents “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” in theaters on May 20, 2011.  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 at Twitter.com/disneymusic.

For more information on Rodrigo Y Gabriela, please visit www.rodgab.com