Ruth has been collaborating with Dr. Jane Goodall since 2002, producing Dr. Goodall’s audiobooks, composing the music for her podcast series Hopecast, and currently serving as music director for her short-stories series.

FROM RUTH:

I first met Dr. Jane Goodall at the UN in Geneva in 2002, where I was playing bass with the One Human Family Gospel Choir. We were opening for a peace summit there. At the event, Dr. Jane presented Amritanandamayi (known simply as “Amma”) with the Ghandi/Martin Luther King Award for non-violence. 

Dr. Jane became an immediate friend and mentor. She was one of the very few people who understood the heart and meaning of the Well Wishes Project before it went on to achieve global success. From the time of its conception, that project was very controversial—for no other reason than the fear that pervaded much of the world at the time. Regardless, Dr. Jane was a great source of encouragement. The audio project, which features innocent, spontaneous insights expressed by children—has gone on to literally save lives around the world.

Over the years, my friendship with Dr. Jane deepened and we began to work together. I had the honor of producing the updated audio version of her classic, My Life With the Chimpanzees.

That production was unlike any other. My engineer Steve Thomas and I had literally 45 minutes to convert Dr. Jane’s hotel room into a recording studio (see the pictures below).

Flanked by multiple blankets and pillows used as baffles, Dr. Jane and I sat together for 13 hours while Steve monitored all recording gear from the back of the room.  Dr. Jane was extraordinary. She updated and recorded the entire book in a single day. She was 82 years old at the time.

The production was far from over. I spent the following two years meticulously researching historic recordings in support of text, ultimately weaving them into an authentic soundscape throughout the book in support of Dr. Jane Goodall’s beautiful narration. Every animal (specific to gender, age and temperament expressed), bird, even insect you hear is authentic-- not only location, but also time of day taking place in the story. 

Steve and I worked tirelessly in his studio perfecting mix of all elements - it turns into a three-hour and 45 minutes audio book!

Additionally, Dr. Jane wrote the foreword for my book, The Water Tree Way.

Since then, I’ve been scoring several projects for Dr. Jane as well as serving as music director for various films. I recently wrote the music for her podcast series, Hopecast. To hear a cue from Hopecast, please visit this page.