Mark Isham

Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and film composer. A trumpeter and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including jazz and electronic. He is also an actor.

Life and career
Isham was born in New York City, the son of Patricia (née Hammond), a violinist, and Howard Fuller Isham, a professor of humanities. He is a Scientologist and is married to Donna Isham.

His discography is extensive and varied, including participation with artists including David Sylvian, Group 87, Art Lande, Pharoah Sanders, Van Morrison, David Torn, and sessions with people like Brian Wilson, Joni Mitchell, Terry Bozzio, Bill Bruford, XTC, and Siouxsie Sioux. His musical styles include crossover jazz, post-bop, ambient, progressive electronic, chamber jazz, and new age.

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, Nell, Blade, Crash, The Black Dahlia, The Lucky One, October Sky, 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.

Studio albums and compilations

 * 1983 Vapor Drawings
 * 1985 Film Music
 * 1987 We Begin (with Art Lande)
 * 1988 Castalia
 * 1989 Tibet – a soundtrack
 * 1990 Mark Isham
 * 1991 Songs My Children Taught Me (music only, from the first four Rabbit Ears titles, see below)
 * 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)
 * 1990 The Emperor's New Clothes (Narrated by John Gielgud)
 * 1992 The Boy Who Drew Cats (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's Army Strong campaign
 * 2007 Human the Death Dance by Sage Francis (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 (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 (Virgin, 1984)
 * Secrets of the Beehive (Virgin, 1987)
 * With David Torn
 * Cloud About Mercury (ECM, 1987)
 * With Andy Summers
 * Charming Snakes (Private Music, 1990)

Filmography
As director As screenwriter

As actor