Chieftains Hook Up With Stones : Music: Ireland’s premiere traditional group will also be joined by Mark Knopfler and Tom Jones on its next album.

The Chieftains would seem to have done it all. They’ve performed for the Pope and the Queen of England. They’ve played everywhere from the pubs of Dublin to London’s Royal Albert Hall to the Great Wall of China.

They’ve been appointed official music ambassadors by the Irish government. And, earlier this year, they snagged the two top Grammys in their musical field.

Are there no stones left unturned for Ireland’s premiere traditional music group?

As a matter of fact, Stones is just where the Chieftains have turned for their next outing--the Rolling Stones, that is.

While the Chieftains have collaborated with the likes of Willie Nelson, Elvis Costello, classical flutist James Galway and Chinese folk orchestras, they might have their rowdiest pairing yet with tracks they’ve recorded with Mick, Keith and the gang for the next Chieftains album.

“It turned out to be a great hoolie (party). We had the most incredible time,” Chieftains’ founder Paddy Moloney said recently by phone from his home in Dublin.

Tentatively titled “The Chieftains and Friends,” the album also is slated to include contributions from guitarist Mark Knopfler, Welsh singer Tom Jones and other guests to be named later.

What is it about this band that has earned not just the respect, but also the in-studio participation of musicians from virtually every field, in virtually every country they visit?

“It’s not just a band anymore,” surmised Moloney, who leads the group in “Christmas in Ireland” concerts on Saturday at UCLA’s Royce Hall and Monday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

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“It’s really become an institution, and people want to find out about this institution. They always say, ‘Oh, we’d love to play with the Chieftains.’ At the end of the day (of recording), I’m not sure they’d still want to do it. But I don’t muck about. I just get them in the studio and do it.

“They’ve all had a good time with us, though,” he said, then paused, laughing: “At least, I think they did. I never went back to ask them.”

For a group whose performances often seem like parties that are open to the public, there’s little surface indication of the serious intent beneath the fun.

“When we started on our mission 31 years ago, my great dream was of this music remaining alive,” Moloney said. “One of the goals was for people outside Ireland to know that there is a great classical tradition of music here and that it’s very important.

“It has been described in old manuscripts as the greatest classical folk music in the world,” he said. “I wouldn’t go that far, because I have the utmost respect for the folk music of every country.

“But there’s been some misunderstanding in the past about what we do, and when some people have said the Chieftains are trying to be a bit ‘classical,’ I wonder what they mean,” he said. “What we’re doing is actually the purest form of traditional music.”