Orcas' Greatest Hits

Jim Nollman is a sound artist and author devoted to making music with non-human individuals. After his 1982 Folkways album Playing Music with Animals, he created an artistic residency and community space in a British Columbia cove called Orcananda, named for the orcas that have lived in its deep waters for centuries.

Orcas' Greatest Hits gathers hydrophone recordings from more than 60 hours of interspecies collaboration, captured between 1985 and 2002. Working from a portable studio floating above the cove, Nollman and his cohort approached the orcas and other animals with care, keeping a respectful distance as they connected through listening.

What comes through is a playful, attentive exchange. Cetaceans and humans search out sonic space together, and in that dialogue, this collection points toward a shared ground for deeper understanding.