Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and film composer. A

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

er and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and electronic. He is also a film composer, having worked on numerous films and television series, including '' The Hitcher,'' '' Point Break'', '' A River Runs Through It'', '' Of Mice and Men,

Warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

Nell Nell is a traditional nickname for Eleanor. Nell is the name of: People Given name * Nell (artist) (born 1975), Australian artist * Nell Blaine (1922–1996), American painter * Nell Bryden (born 1977), American singer * Nell Carter (1948–2003 ...

, Blade,'' ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch ...

'', '' The Black Dahlia'', '' The Lucky One'' and '' Once Upon a Time.'' Isham acted as well in '' Made in Heaven'' by Alan Rudolph (1987) and directed ''The Cowboy and the Ballerina'' in 1998.

Life and career

Isham was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the son of Patricia (née Hammond), a violinist, and Howard Fuller Isham, a Professor of

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...

. His discography is extensive and varied, including participation with artists including David Sylvian, Group 87,

Art Lande Art Lande is an American musician who was born in New York City, United States, on 5 February 1947. Born in New York, Lande began piano at age 4. He attended Williams College and moved to San Francisco in 1969. In 1973 he recorded ''Red Lanta,'' ...

, Pharoah Sanders, Van Morrison,

David Torn David M. Torn (born May 26, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for his use of looping. Background Torn has contributed to recordings by artists as diverse ...

, and sessions with people like Brian Wilson, Joni Mitchell,

Terry Bozzio Terry John Bozzio (born December 27, 1950) is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missing Perso ...

, Bill Bruford,

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing i ...

, and Siouxsie Sioux. His musical styles include crossover jazz,

post-bop Post-bop is a genre of small-combo jazz that evolved in the early to mid 1960s in the United States. Pioneers of the genre, such as Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane and Jackie McLean, crafted syntheses ...

, ambient,

progressive electronic Progressive music is music that attempts to expand existing stylistic boundaries associated with specific genres of music. The word comes from the basic concept of "progress", which refers to advancements through accumulation, and is often dep ...

, chamber jazz, and

new age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

. Isham is a Scientologist. He is married to Donna Isham.

Discography

Studio albums and compilations

*1983 '' Vapor Drawings'' *1985 '' Film Music'' *1987 '' We Begin'' (with

) *1988 ''

Castalia Castalia ( grc, Κασταλία), in Greek mythology, was a naiad-nymph, a daughter of Achelous who inhabited the Castalian spring in Delphi. In older traditions, Castalian spring already existed by the time Apollo came to Delphi searching for ...

'' *1989 ''Tibet'' – a soundtrack *1990 '' Mark Isham'' *1991 ''Songs My Children Taught Me'' *1995 ''Blue Sun'' *1998 ''Mark Isham: A Windham Hill Retrospective'' *1999 ''Miles Remembered: The Silent Way Project'' *2009 '' Bittersweet'' with Kate Ceberano *2015 ''The Longest Ride (Original Score Album)''.

Rabbit Ears Storybook Classics

*1987 '' The Steadfast Tin Soldier'' (Narrated by Jeremy Irons) *1988 ''The Emperor and the Nightingale'' (Narrated by Glenn Close) *1989 '' Thumbelina'' (Narrated by

Kelly McGillis Kelly Ann McGillis (born July 9, 1957) is an American stage actress. She is known for her film roles such as Rachel Lapp in ''Witness'' (1985), for which she received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations; Charlie in ''Top Gun'' (1986); ''Made in ...

) *1990 '' The Emperor's New Clothes'' (Narrated by John Gielgud) *1992 ''

The Boy Who Drew Cats is a Japanese fairy tale translated by Lafcadio Hearn, published in 1898, as number 23 of Hasegawa Takejirō's ''Japanese Fairy Tale Series''. It was later included in Hearn's ''Japanese Fairy Tales''. The original title in Hearn's manuscript ...

'' (Narrated by William Hurt) *1994 '' The Firebird'' (Narrated by Susan Sarandon)

Other

*2000 ''Hymn of Asia: L. Ron Hubbard'' (Instrument Orchestration and Choral Arrangements) *2006 Theme to the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

Army Strong An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

campaign *2007 ''

Human the Death Dance ''Human the Death Dance'' is the third solo studio album by American rapper Sage Francis. It was released on Epitaph Records on May 8, 2007. It peaked at number 97 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Critical reception At Metacritic, which assigns ...

'' by

Sage Francis Paul William "Sage" Francis (born November 18, 1976) is an American independent underground rapper from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the founder and CEO of Strange Famous Records. Early life and education Francis was born in Miami, Florida ...

(Production on "Good Fashion" and "Water Line") *2009 ''Dallas et Kate'' with Kate Ceberano

As member

;With Group 87 *''Group 87'' (Columbia Records, 1980) *''A Career in Dada Processing'' (Capitol Records, 1984)

As sideman

;With Art Lande * '' Rubisa Patrol'' (ECM, 1976) * '' Desert Marauders'' (ECM 1978) ;With Pharoah Sanders *'' Journey to the One'' (Theresa, 1980) ;With Van Morrison *'' Into the Music'' (Mercury, 1979) *''

Common One ''Common One'' is the twelfth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1980. The album was recorded over a nine-day period at Super Bear Studios, near Nice, on the French Riviera. Its title is in the lyrics of t ...

'' (Mercury, 1980) *'' Beautiful Vision'' (Mercury, 1982) *'' Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'' (Mercury, 1983) *'' Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast '' (Mercury, 1984) ;With David Sylvian *''

Brilliant Trees ''Brilliant Trees'' is the first solo album by the British singer-songwriter David Sylvian, released in June 1984. The album peaked at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in ...

'' (Virgin, 1984) *''

Secrets of the Beehive ''Secrets of the Beehive'' is a solo album by British singer-songwriter David Sylvian and it was released on 19 October 1987 (in Europe, UK and America). The album peaked at no.37 in the UK album chart. The album was released in Japan on 21 Nove ...

'' (Virgin, 1987) ;With David Torn * ''

Cloud About Mercury ''Cloud About Mercury'' is the second album by guitarist David Torn, supported by Mark Isham, Tony Levin and Bill Bruford. It was recorded in 1986 and released on the ECM label in March 1987.

'' (ECM, 1987) ;With Andy Summers * ''

Charming Snakes ''Charming Snakes'' is an album by the English musician Andy Summers. It was released in 1990. Summers supported the album by opening the 1991 Montreal International Jazz Festival; he also played shows with John McLaughlin. Production The album w ...

'' (

Private Music Private Music was an American independent record label founded in 1984 by musician Peter Baumann as a "home for instrumental music". Baumann signed Ravi Shankar, Yanni, Suzanne Ciani, Andy Summers, Patrick O'Hearn, Leo Kottke, and his former ba ...

, 1990)

Contributions to soundtracks

Films

Television series

Documentaries and shorts

Filmography

As director As screenwriter As actor

References

External links

*
YouTube channel

Artist Biography by Steve Huey
at ''Allmusic.com'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Isham, Mark 1951 births Living people American electronic musicians American film score composers American jazz composers American jazz trumpeters American male film score composers American male jazz composers American male trumpeters American Scientologists American television composers Chamber jazz trumpeters Composers from New York City ECM Records artists Electronic composers Emmy Award winners Grammy Award winners Jazz musicians from New York (state) La-La Land Records artists Male television composers Musicians from New York City New-age synthesizer players Post-bop trumpeters Varèse Sarabande Records artists Windham Hill Records artists