Album Notes

Oil on Ice is a contemporary classical film score featuring Grammy nominee and Kronos Quartet alumnus, Joan Jeanrenaud on cello along with William Susman and Adeline Peter Raboff. This CD from the award-winning and widely distributed feature length documentary of the same name, evokes a powerful and vivid soundscape of life and conflict in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

"Oil on Ice ...reveals considerable sophistication in its composition. ...The sound quality is immaculate -- full and vivid." (Stephen Eddins - All Media Guide)

Note from the Composer:

It's always a joy for a composer to have a great musician play one's score. When Dale Djerassi, co-director/producer of Oil On Ice, suggested that Joan Jeanrenaud play the cello part, I enthusiastically agreed. Not only is Joan a renowned and brilliant performer; she is wonderful to work with in the studio. Joan added so much expression and emotion to the recording. Some of the cello lines are truly virtuosic in the use of harmonics and extended techniques, yet Joan often achieved what I had imagined on the first take. In some sections where we needed an ethereal timbre or improvisatory effect, she knew exactly how to create it. Joan totally understood my intentions with the music. Her interpretation is stunning and deeply moving.

An amazing coincidence occurred during the recording session at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Dale got a call from Adeline Peter Raboff, the Gwich'in activist who has a lead role in the film. Adeline told him she was driving through San Francisco from Fairbanks on her way to visit her daughter in Los Angeles. Dale told her to stop by and listen to the session.

I immediately thought of several places where Adeline could participate and add her haunting voice. When Adeline arrived at the studio, she told us she had some Alaskan native rattles made from caribou hooves in the back of her
car. We recorded her performing this unique percussion instrument as well. Sometimes serendipitous events are not to be believed!

This was not Adeline's only contribution to the music. At the outset of the film, she sings "Shik'eenoohti" by Alaskan composer John Luther Adams. I used the pitch material from the song as a starting point for the themes in my score. I like to create an organic connection between what is already on screen and what I can contribute giving the dramatic underscore more meaning and an intrinsic value to the film.

The themes suggested themselves as I watched the film a few times. I began to realize that there were three key dramatic elements that I could focus on: The Wilderness, The Community, and The Imminent Threat. Once I composed my three themes, I applied them to appropriate scenes. I would vary their sound, with respect to the picture, by altering for example their harmony, tempo, and instrumentation.

I would like to thank co-director/producers Bo Boudart and Dale Djerassi and executive producer Steve Michelson for their support in the creation of this score and CD.

About the Performers:

JOAN JEANRENAUD cellist

Grammy nominated recording artist Joan Jeanrenaud is best known for the more than 2,000 concerts she performed throughout the world during her impressive tenure with the Kronos Quartet. Jeanrenaud left Kronos in 1999 to pursue different artistic directions including solo and collaborative projects. As a solo artist she has premiered more than twenty compositions written for her. Since 1999, she has composed many works for cello including Be With, which won the Isadora Duncan Dance Award for best composition in 2001-02.

WILLIAM SUSMAN composer & performer

The innovative and evocative music of William Susman can be heard both in the concert hall and on film. Mr. Susman's music integrates diverse influences spanning the western classical and jazz tradition to science and numerology. Rhythm plays a strong role in his music through musical devices such as the Afro-Cuban Montuño, Medieval Hocket and Isorhythm. His orchestral works are frequently performed throughout the world. He has scored a variety of documentaries over the past several years and has received international recognition through awards and commissions. Many acclaimed soloists have performed and recorded his music. Native New Yorker, which Mr. Susman scored and produced, won best documentary at the Moondance Film Festival, best film score at the Park City Film Music Festival and Best Documentary Short at the Tribeca Film Festival.

William Susman and Joan Jeanrenaud can also be heard with Tibetan Vocalist Tsering Wangmo on the award-winning soundtrack to the feature length documentary FATE OF THE LHAPA.

Awards:

WINNER Pare Lorentz Award - 2004 International Documentary Association

WINNER Best Film Score - 2005 Moondance International Film Festival

WINNER Best Film Score - 2006 Park City Film Music Festival

Recorded at the legendary Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California. Engineered, mixed and mastered by Stephen Hart.

(DVD available on Warner Home Video)
A Dale Djerassi/Bo Boudart Production
In Association with Lobitos Creek Ranch