Mark Isham Biography (1951-)

Born September 7, 1951, in New York, NY; son of Howard Fuller (a professor ofhumanities) and Patricia (a violinist; maiden name, Hammond) Isham; marriedMargaret Johnstone (a music publicist), May 24, 1986 (marriage ended); married Donna Linson, February 24, 1990. Addresses: Agent: Creative ArtistsAgency, 9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212-1825.; Contact: c/o Earle Tones Music, Inc., 23679 Calabasas Rd., Suite 522, Calabasas, CA 91302-1502.

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Musician, composer, recording artist
Birth Details: September 7, 1951; New York, New York, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Work
Synthesizer programmer, Never Cry Wolf, Buena Vista, 1983
Sound recorder, Trouble in the Mind, Island Alive, 1985
Song producer, "Parlez-moi d'Amour," The Moderns, Alive Films,1988
Band leader for Blue Danube, Love at Large, 1990
Producer of original score, Point Break, Largo/Twentieth Century-Fox, 1991
Song arranger, "Oyfn Pripetshok (On the Hearth)," Billy Bathgate,Walt Disney Films, 1991
Conductor, Miami Rhapsody, Hollywood Pictures, 1995
Music arranger, Night Falls on Manhattan, Paramount, 1997
Music producer, Breakfast of Champions, Buena Vista, 1999
Music producer, Where the Money Is (also known as Ein Heisser Coup), USA Films, 2000
Film Appearances
Zeus, Made in Heaven, Lorimar, 1987
Television Work
Series
Music supervisor, EZ Streets, CBS, 1996
Movies
Music producer, Shattered Mind, NBC, 1996
Television Appearances
Specials
Searching for Jimi Hendrix, Bravo, 1999
RECORDINGS
Albums
(With Art Lande) Rubisa Patrol, ECM, 1976
(With Lande) Desert Marauders, ECM, 1978
(With Van Morrison) Into the Music, Warner Bros., 1979
(With Morrison) Live at the Belfast Opera House, Mercury, 1983
(With Morrison) Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, Warner Bros., 1983
(With Morrison) Common One, Warner Bros., 1980
(With Morrison) Beautiful Vision, Warner Bros., 1980
(With Group 87) Group 87, Columbia, 1980
Vapor Drawings, Windham Hill, 1983
(With Group 87) A Career in Dada Processing, Capitol, 1984
(With Group 87) We Begin, ECM, 1987
The Steadfast Tin Soldier, BMG Kidz, 1987
The Emperor's Nightingale, BMG Kidz, 1988
Castalia, Virgin, 1988
Tibet, Windham Hill, 1989
Thumbelina, BMG Kidz, 1989
The Emperor's New Clothes, BMG Kidz, 1990
Mark Isham, Virgin, 1991
Songs My Children Taught Me, Windham Hill, 1991
The Boy Who Drew Cats, BMG Kidz, 1992
Blue Sun, Columbia, 1995
Mark Isham: A Windham Hill Retrospective, Windham Hill, 1998
Miles Remembered: The Silent Way Project, Columbia, 1999
Also recorded (with Lande) Story of Baku and Eccentricities ofEarl Dant, both Arch Street; (with Charles Jankel) Charles Jankel,A & M; (with Tom Fogerty) Deal It Out, Fantasy; (with America) View from the Ground, Capitol; (with Steve Miller) Singing Whale Songs in a Low Voice, Hip Pocket/Windham Hill, Sampler 84, Windham Hill, and Country, Windham Hill; (with Liz Story) Unaccountable Effect, Windham Hill; (with Will Ackerman) Past Light, Film Music, and Vapor Drawings, all Windham Hill; and The Firebird. Guestartist or studio musician on numerous albums, including Voodoo Lounge, by the Rolling Stones; Human Touch, by Bruce Springsteen; Acrossthe Borderline, by Willie Nelson; and Toots, Film Music, by TootsThielmans.
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Albums
Film Music, Windham Hill, 1985
Trouble in Mind, Island, 1986
The Moderns, Virgin, 1988
Little Man Tate, Varese Sarabande, 1991
Quiz Show, Hollywood Records, 1994
Losing Isaiah, Columbia, 1995
Home for the Holidays, Mercury, 1995
Afterglow, Columbia, 1997
Rules of Engagement, Milan Records, 2000
Videos
The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Random House, 1987
WRITINGS

Film Music
Never Cry Wolf, Buena Vista, 1983
Mrs. Soffel, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists, 1984
The Times of Harvey Milk, Cinecom International, 1984
Country, Buena Vista, 1984
Trouble in the Mind, Island Alive, 1985
The Hitcher, American Film Company, 1986
Made in Heaven, Lorimar, 1987
Tibet (also known as Tibet--Widerstand des Geistes), 1988
The Moderns, Alive Films, 1988
The Beast (also known as The Beast of War), Columbia, 1988
(Songwriter) Cat Chaser, 1989
Everybody Wins, Orion, 1990
Reversal of Fortune, Warner Bros., 1990
Love at Large, 1990
Mortal Thoughts, 1991
Point Break, Largo/Twentieth Century-Fox, 1991
Little Man Tate, Orion, 1991
A Midnight Clear, A & M, 1991
Crooked Hearts, 1991
Billy Bathgate, Walt Disney Films, 1991
Cool World, 1992
A River Runs through It, Sony Pictures, 1992
The Public Eye, Universal, 1992
Of Mice and Men, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1992
Nowhere to Run, 1993
Fire in the Sky, 1993
Made in America, 1993
Romeo Is Bleeding, Working Title Films, 1993
Short Cuts, New Line Cinema, 1993
Hidden Hawaii, 1993
The Getaway, 1994
The Browning Version, 1994
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (also known as Mrs. Parker and the Round Table), Parkbench Films, 1994
Timecop, 1994
Nell, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1994
Thumbelina (also known as Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina), Columbia TriStar, 1994
Safe Passage, 1994
Quiz Show, Hollywood Pictures, 1994
Miami Rhapsody, Hollywood Pictures, 1995
Losing Isaiah, Paramount, 1995
(Music box theme) Waterworld, 1995
The Net, 1995
Home for the Holidays, Paramount, 1995
Fly Away Home (also known as Father Goose and Flying Wild), Columbia TriStar, 1996
Last Dance, Buena Vista, 1996
Night Falls on Manhattan, Paramount, 1997
Afterglow, Sony Pictures Classics, 1997
Kiss the Girls, Paramount, 1997
The Education of Little Tree, Paramount, 1997
The Gingerbread Man, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, 1998
Blade, New Line Cinema, 1998
(And song, "Love Is Where You Are") At First Sight, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1999
Varsity Blues, Paramount, 1999
Breakfast of Champions, Buena Vista, 1999
October Sky, Universal, 1999
Body Shots, New Line Cinema, 1999
Galapagos: The Enchanted Voyage (documentary), Imax Corporation, 1999
(And song, "On the Threshold of Liberty") Rules of Engagement, Paramount, 2000
Where the Money Is (also known as Ein Heisser Coup), USA Films, 2000
Trixie, Sony Pictures Classics, 2000
Men of Honor, Twentieth Century-Fox, 2000
Impostor, Miramax/Dimension, 2000
Save the Last Dance, Paramount, 2001
Along Came a Spider, Paramount, 2001
Television Music
Series
(Theme music) Chicago Hope, CBS, 1994-99
(Score and theme music) EZ Streets, CBS, 1996
(Score and theme music) Michael Hayes, CBS, 1997
(Score and theme music) Nothing Sacred, ABC, 1997
(Score) Family Law, CBS, 1999-
Specials
(Song, "On the Threshold of Liberty") The Making of Liberty, 1986
The Emperor's Nightingale, Showtime, 1987
The Emperor's New Clothes, Showtime, 1990
The Boy Who Drew Cats, Showtime, 1991
The Firebird, Showtime, 1994
(Song, "Love's Ash Dissolves") In Search of Angels, PBS, 1994
(Song, "Mr. Moto's Penguin") Winter Solstice on Ice, Arts andEntertainment, 1999
Movies
The Sketch Artist, Showtime, 1992
Gotti, HBO, 1996
The Defenders: Payback, Showtime, 1997
The Defenders: Choice of Evils (also known as The Defenders), Showtime, 1998
The Defenders: Taking the First, 1998
Free Money, Starz!, 1999
Miniseries
Contributor, From the Earth to the Moon, HBO, 1998
Other Compositions
Five Short Stories for Trumpet and Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, 1992

Further Reference

ADAPTATIONS

Isham's compositions for motion pictures have been recorded on several original soundtrack albums, including The Beast, November, 1995, A& M, 1988; The Hitcher, Silva America, 1991; Reversal of Fortune, Milan America, 1990; Billy Bathgate, Milan America, 1991; OfMice and Men, Varese Sarabande, 1992; Public Eye, Varese Sarabande, 1992; A River Runs through It, Milan America, 1992; Romeo Is Bleeding, Verve, 1994; Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, VareseSarabande, 1994; Nell, Fox Records, 1995; Last Dance, HollywoodRecords, 1996; Kiss the Girls, Milan Records, 1997; The Educationof Little Tree, Sony Classical, 1997; Blade, Varese Sarabande, 1998; At First Sight, Milan Records, 1999; October Sky, Sony Classical, 1999; and Men of Honor, Motown Records, 2000.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Contemporary Musicians, Volume 14, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1995.

Periodicals:

Downbeat, p. 30.
Los Angeles, October, 1995, p. 74.

Internet:

Mark Isham Web Site, http://www.isham.com

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