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Credits

Composed & Conducted: 
Rich Ragsdale

Producers: 
Andrew P. Alderete
Rich Ragsdale
Jeff Johns

Executive Album Producer: 
Jeff Johns

Music Editor: 
Joe Lisanti

Orchestra Contractor: 
David Low

Choir Arranger: 
Deborah Lurie

Conductor & Lead Orchestrator: 
Sean McMahon

Orchestrator: 
Michael Pelavin

Music Supervisor: 
Mark Robertson

Scoring Mixer: 
John Rodd

Orchestrator: 
George Shaw

The Curse of El Charro (2010)

The Work

 Rich sits back on a solid victorian-style wood chair.  It creaks as he listens to a cue.

"That has Rich Ragsdale written all over it right there."

His voice is excited, but gives out a nefarious chuckle as he strokes his pointy beard during the diminishment of a well written theme - a theme that punches the blood-brain barrier as Bernard Hermmann and Jerry Goldsmith once did during the golden-age of cinema.  But this is different.  There is a subtle texture of Rich's music that gives it an edge - a roughness that stems from his inspired memories of hearing Psycho for the first time and current appreciation of modern classical composers (Arvo Part, John Tavener, Henryk Gorecki).  It is the combination of simplicity and edgy texture that carry a unique minimalism that oftentimes switches into a theme reminiscent of those heard in the golden age.  It is also the definition of the Rich Ragsdale sound.

"I go where the music takes me," Rich says without hesitation.  "It's like one of my drawings - I don't know what I'm going to draw until I actually start.  You start with something you know, then it takes you somewhere else.  It becomes a life of its own."

As one of his first feature film scores, The Curse of El Charro brings with it a diverse and eclectic mix of very classical-style themes with modern textural overtones reminiscent of John Zorn and Max Ricther.  Recorded witha  live orchestra and choir, El Charro's theme is a simple 4-note motif that defines Charro - a man who's fall from grace was a result of losing the woman he loved.  Expanding from this musical idea brings a melodic representation of Charro's sorrow as demonstrated by a solo piano in the Opening (Full Mix) theme.

However, the piano isn't alone.  It is accompanied by background ambience that exudes a sense of space and openness, which is then funneled into a pickup by the orchestra as the main character falls into the depths of the damned.  Every listener is on the emotional journey of the film's central character.

Andrew P. Alderete
Los Angeles, CA
September, 2010