MARK ISHAM

Post-Fusion Contemporary / Jazz Related Soundtracks • United States
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Best known for his uniquely innovative sounds and hauntingly beautiful melodies, with scores contributing to many Academy Award winning films, Mark Isham is regarded musically as the inventive, bold master of the written note. Isham is not only recognized as a premier film composer but also a pioneer in electronic music, as well as a preeminent trumpet player. His provocative and melodic sounds have and continue to add drama, pathos and emotional texture to the films his music touches. It is this versatility and passion in creating music along with his dedication that has awarded him some of the highest honors in the music world.

Along with his achievements of Grammy, Emmy, and Clio awards, Mark has also received Academy, Grammy and Golden Globe nominations, and most recently received the ASCAP Henry Mancini award for Lifetime Achievement.

Film composing for Mark began in 1983. Already an established performer and recording artist by
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MARK ISHAM Discography

MARK ISHAM albums / top albums

MARK ISHAM Vapor Drawings album cover 3.52 | 2 ratings
Vapor Drawings
Post-Fusion Contemporary 1983
MARK ISHAM Film Music album cover 3.00 | 1 ratings
Film Music
Jazz Related Soundtracks 1985
MARK ISHAM Trouble In Mind (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Trouble In Mind (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Jazz Related Soundtracks 1986
MARK ISHAM We Begin album cover 4.33 | 3 ratings
We Begin
Post-Fusion Contemporary 1987
MARK ISHAM The Moderns (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
The Moderns (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Jazz Related Soundtracks 1988
MARK ISHAM The Beast (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
The Beast (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Jazz Related Soundtracks 1988
MARK ISHAM Castalia album cover 3.50 | 2 ratings
Castalia
Post-Fusion Contemporary 1988
MARK ISHAM Tibet album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Tibet
Post-Fusion Contemporary 1989
MARK ISHAM Mark Isham album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mark Isham
Post-Fusion Contemporary 1990
MARK ISHAM Everybody Wins (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Everybody Wins (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Jazz Related Soundtracks 1990
MARK ISHAM Love At Large (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Love At Large (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Jazz Related Soundtracks 1990
MARK ISHAM Little Man Tate (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Little Man Tate (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Jazz Related Soundtracks 1991
MARK ISHAM Billy Bathgate (Music From The Original Soundtrack) album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Billy Bathgate (Music From The Original Soundtrack)
Jazz Related Soundtracks 1991
MARK ISHAM Songs My Children Taught Me album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Songs My Children Taught Me
Post-Fusion Contemporary 1991
MARK ISHAM Blue Sun album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Blue Sun
Post-Fusion Contemporary 1995
MARK ISHAM Pure album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Pure
Post-Fusion Contemporary 2006
MARK ISHAM Mark Isham + Kate Ceberano ‎: Bittersweet album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mark Isham + Kate Ceberano ‎: Bittersweet
Post-Fusion Contemporary 2009

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MARK ISHAM re-issues & compilations

MARK ISHAM Miles Remembered: The Silent Way Project album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Miles Remembered: The Silent Way Project
Post-Fusion Contemporary 1999

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MARK ISHAM movies (DVD, Blu-Ray or VHS)

MARK ISHAM Reviews

MARK ISHAM Film Music

Album · 1985 · Jazz Related Soundtracks
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
Matti P
I remember borrowing this CD from a library, most likely in the early nineties, when I had run across the name of the American musician and composer MARK ISHAM (b. 1951). The connection wasn't jazz or even film music in which Isham has been productive, instead I was charmed by a romantically peaceful track 'My Wife With Champagne Shoulders' on some instrumental, mainly electronic music compilation on the Innovative Communication label, I think. Isham's calm, sensitive and introspective music -- he plays mainly trumpet and keyboards -- is indeed recommendable to the listeners of Ambient and alike.

For the most part, this unusual set of film music makes no exception. I don't remember if the CD leaflet had any further information on the three movies that still are unfamiliar to me. Instead of containing short tracks typical for soundtrack albums, this CD contains three extended pieces, one for each film.

"Mrs. Soffel" (1984) is a drama starring Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson. The roughly 14-minute track here is very melancholic and serene for the most part as it progresses through various sections -- that actually sound like they were separate pieces. One could ask the necessity of programming it as a single track. Nevertheless, the music calls for dedicated listening free of distractions and rewards it the way the so called New Age Music does at its best. Other involved musicians include Pat Metheny's sideman Lyle Mays on piano and Peter Maunu on violin. Isham plays plenty of penny whistle on this track.

"The Times of Harvey Milk" (1984) is an Oscar-winning documentary of the gay politician. Again, the 8½ minute track has various sections, some of them bright-toned, some moodier. The synths are central making the music at times comparable to the likes of Vangelis and Roger Eno, but one clearly senses this is film music aimed to underline emotions.

"Never Cry Wolf" (1983) is a drama about a government biologist sent into the wilderness to study the caribou population whose decline is believed to be caused by wolves. The music has a wide, epic approach depicting the grandiosity and chillingness of the wildlife nature. The arrangement is bigger, featuring e.g. bassoon, bamboo flutes, harp, percussion and human voices. Very likely a soundtrack album with separate tracks instead of the nearly 25-minute piece would function better for the listener.

The melancholically oriented Soffel piece is my favourite here. I don't know if this album is among the most recommendable in Isham's large catalogue. At least if you wish for a trumpet oriented album, this may not be what you're looking for. Often it's very atmospheric, but it's also a bit patchy (and occasionally difficult to get hold on) within its heavily extended tracks.

MARK ISHAM Vapor Drawings

Album · 1983 · Post-Fusion Contemporary
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
Slartibartfast
If you've ever seen a movie called Never Cry Wolf, then you'll know what to expect from this album. Recorded around the same time as Mark did the soundtrack, it shares a lot of the musical themes. Vapor Drawings has sort of an arctic wasteland atmosphere.

This is pretty much a creature of the studio creation with Isham playing almost all of the instruments backed up with a percussionist, Peter Van Hooke. Synthesizers dominate the music, but there is an ample dose of Mark's horns. What you get is sort of a fusion, progressive electronic, ambient mix. And yes most of this music would be suitable for a soundtrack.

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