Maybe we should stop being surprised by surprises. Given that, after all, almost any kind of music can be blended with any other, and is. But the way musical ensemble Saffron takes the poetry of 13th century Persian poet Rumi and sets it to classical Indian music and jazz still comes as a surprise, simply because it's so beautifully done. Hear for yourself:

PLAYListen to Saffron, with "Dawning."

You may ask, where are the Rolling Stones in this? That claim is, admittedly, a bit of a stretch, but it is absolutely true that Tim Ries, sax player with the Stones, is at the heart of Saffron. You can hear the power of his work with the Stones (and many other pop and jazz artists, the former including Paul Simon, Sheryl Crow, Lyle Lovett, Stevie Wonder etc.) throughout the ensemble's new recording, Dawning.

But each member of Saffron makes an essential contribution: master sitarist Shujaat Husain Khan, pianist Kevin Hays, percussionist Abhiman Kaushal and singer Katayoun Goudarzi.

Goudarzi is the only Persian-speaking member of the group, and it was her love of Rumi's work that led to the existence of this band. She shared some of her thoughts about Saffron's music in an email Q&A.

Rumi’s poetry inspires people around the world, of many cultures — how does it inspire you?

The fundamental aspects of Maulânâ Jalâl al-Din Muhammad Balkhi or Rumi's work are love and unity. Once one starts to subscribe to that school of thought, the outlook on life changes dramatically. In my case I guess it inspires me to try to have a gentler view on life and everyone around me.

What’s the (traditional) connection between Rumi’s poetry and music?

Maulânâ was entranced with the ritual of samâ, which is a mystical dance where poetry and dance simultaneously brings the practitioner into a state of intoxication. It’s said that often, Maulânâ himself would melodically sing his own poetry and dance.

Why did you choose to use jazz to convey the poems?

The music of Dawning is not really jazz but a space where Indian classical and Western jazz music and classical Persian poetry come together. I think nowadays, more than ever, a lot of artists are fortunate enough to travel; hence there are new opportunities for artistic interaction and as long as we want to learn about each other why not use different genres to transcribe our interpretation of a poem?

PLAYListen to Saffron, with "Yours."

It must be challenging to create this sort of East-meets-West bridge.

The challenge for me when recording Dawning was to make sure that I conveyed the poems accurately for my colleagues. When that was done, it seemed as if everything fell into place.

The ensemble includes Tim Ries (of the Rolling Stones). Where was the common ground?

Tim is an informed person with an enthusiastic and curious mind. There are many layers in Tim's music, which reflects his depth of intellect. Tim transcribes the poetry I read into music with such ease, it is amazing. The common ground Tim and I find every time we work together is that strong and intense emotional connection we feel to the poetry and the music we are working on.

And what about Shujaat Khan, a North Indian classical sitar player?

Recitation is a long-standing tradition both in Iran and India, which was our common thread. So that was originally our inspiration. In addition to that we also have a strong artistic connection so it is very easy for us to communicate musically.

What do you hope that audiences unfamiliar with Rumi’s poetry will “get” from listening to Dawning?

I'm hoping listeners will enjoy the work and be inspired to want to learn more about this mystical genius who had exceptional intellectual ability and creativity as an artist and a thinker.