Search - Mark Isham :: Vapor Drawings

Mark Isham
Vapor Drawings
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Jazz, New Age, Pop, Rock

Track Listings (9) - Disc #1
1. Many Chinas
2. Sympathy and Acknowledgment
3. On the Threshold of Liberty
4. When Things Dream
5. Raffles in Rio
6. Something Nice for My Dog
7. Men Before the Mirror
8. Mr. Moto's Penguin (Who'd Be an Eskimo's Wife?)
9. In the Blue Distance

CD Details

All Artists: Mark Isham
Title: Vapor Drawings
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Windham Hill Records
Release Date: 4/29/1997
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Jazz, New Age, Pop, Rock
Styles: Ambient, Electronica, Jazz Fusion, Smooth Jazz, Meditation, Progressive, Electronic
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 019341102724, 019341102748

Synopsis

Amazon.com

Mark Isham's enduring 1983 solo debut captures his graduation from gifted trumpeter with groups like Rubisa Patrol, Group 87, and, most visibly, Van Morrison, to composer with a more versatile and ambitious body of work. On Vapor Drawings, Isham's trumpet and flugelhorn are augmented by synthesizers, piano, soprano sax, and electronic percussion in a series of layered, atmospheric tone poems that nod to Philip Glass and Steve Reich, as well as to European classicism and Eastern modalities. Deemed a new age record as much for its label home as for any intrinsic musical elements, this music is cinematic in scale and drama, especially on its best-known track, the majestic"On the Threshold of Liberty," which anticipated Isham's prolific output as a major film composer in the intervening years. --Sam Sutherland

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Member CD Reviews

SV S. (Sphinx)
Reviewed on 10/18/2015...

Fans of Eno and Vangelis will probably enjoy this album. I certainly did!

This album doesn't generally demand attention, but rewards it richly. The compositions are creative, fresh-sounding, and beautiful. My only complaint is that some of the songs are not long enough ("When Things Dream" should be much longer, in my opinion).

From meditative to almost narrative in a film soundtrack way, these wordless synth soundscapes are the product of a thoughtful, sensitive mind. A very serene, soothing album, though it's not lullaby fodder; it's more energetic than that.

Four and a half stars (you can raise this rating, Mark, by remixing some of these so they're longer! Vapor Drawings 2.0?).

CD Reviews

A Wonderful Debut Album

SHAD E JESSEN | Portland, OR USA | 06/14/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Sympathy and Acknowledgment" and "Men Before the Mirror" are minimalist pieces possibly inspired by Brian Eno but on par with the finest works of Reich and Glass. "Many Chinas" is full of creative synth textures and crisp trumpet lines. "In the Blue Distance" is a terrific composition, with beautifully dense chords at the end. I love this album; despite the 1983 release date it isn't dated at all, thanks to Isham's boundless creativity and his innovative synthesizer work. As much as I love his trumpet, I'd ... for another synth album from him."

Mark Isham's Forgotten Synth Dreamwork

Paul Allaer | Cincinnati | 10/04/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Mark Isham nowadays is associated primarily with his ample soundtrack work and his trumpet skills. However, Isham made a one-time expansion into the world of synthesizer moods on this 1983 album, which remains overlooked in his oeuvre.The album is built around 4 essential tracks (unfortunately, none of which you can sample here on Amazon): "Sympathy & Acknowledgment" is a superb piece of weaving synthezisers into a mesmorizing sound caleidoscope. "On the Threshold of Liberty" (probably his best known individual piece, as a result of the plug Windham Hill gave it on sampler albums and compilations) is a Bolero-like build-up from very faint to an all-out burst of trumpet and synths. "Raffles in Rio" and "Men Before the Mirror" are two more beautifully crafted "minimalist" synth pieces.The rest of the album are shorter pieces. "When Things Dream" and "Something Nice For My Dog", both soft piano/background synth pieces, truly are "album-fillers", reason I cannot give the album 5 stars.Following the surprising success of "Vapor Drawings", Isham decidedly turned away from the synthesizer wizardry (one can consider his next album, the "Never Cry Wolf" soundtrack, a transition album), and ultimately disavowed "Vapor" if not in words, then certainly by his actions. (Wanna have another hit, Mark? How about "Vapor Drawings 2"?) I guess making Hollywood soundtracks was more challenging. Nevertheless, "Vapor" remains required listening for any serious synthesizer fan."

Outstanding debut by a a Talent deserving Wider Recognition

NDBx | New York, NY United States | 11/15/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although this is on Windham Hill, I would have to say this is not a New Age recording, even in 1983 during the height of the New Age explosion. This is more ambient music than anything else. Mark is an inventive, composer arranger and instrumetalist. He goes from fusion to ambient and many other styles in between. He has the science of implication down. He creates soundscapes that stimulate the imagination, conjuring multiple images. This is more about the composer than the instrumentalist. Mark plays trumpet, keyboards and electronic percussion here to great effect. At the time, I felt this was the single strongest release that Windham Hill had. This was so far beyond anything they had released. Mark has gone on to distinguish himself in subsequent recordings as an outstanding trumpet player/reed accompanist/film composer/conceptualist. It's all evident here. The promise is here in this recording, so are many of the manifestations."

A Classic From The Dawn of New Age

NDBx | 12/24/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mark Isham cannot be pinned down to a specific new age category. His albums each are somewhat unique in their sound and style. This one, his first album, remains my favorite. This album combines elements of Eno and early Roach along with a light touch of the trumpet that would later characterize his sound. This album is about moods. Interesting loops, deep reverbs, and haunting synthesizer backings are used to create a dreamlike atmosphere. In a word...magical."

A True Instrumental Classic

B. Niedt | Cherry Hill, NJ United States | 04/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mark Isham's 1983 Windham Hill debut has a reputation as a "new age" classic, but it transcends that oft-misused label. There is a wide variety of stylings and moods in this, from the comical "Mr. Moto's Penguin", to the sublimely minimalist "Sympathy and Acknowledgement", from the jazzy "Many Chinas" to the heroically inspiring "On the Threshold of Liberty". (The last was used a theme for the now nearly-forgotten Al Pacino film "Revolution"). The influences, from Steve Reich to Miles Davis, are readily apprarent, but Isham's creativity as a composer takes the music way beyond mere imitation - it still holds amazingly well over 20 years later. Isham has found a niche in Hollywood as a prolific film-score composer (and I for one believe his score for "Crash" should have been nominated for an Oscar - it was beautiful and very integral to the film). But this is a great way to introduce yourself to his earlier work, and it's one of the finest albums ever to be saddled with the "new age" tag. I highly recommend it to anyone with eclectic instrumental music tastes. If you like what you hear, then you also might like his other releases, especially "Tibet", "Castalia", and the aforementioned "Crash" soundtrack."