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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