The Grammy-winning trumpeter and film composer joins us to discuss 'At the Carousel Club,' his first solo album in 15 years, built from a wall of vintage analog synthesizers and a band featuring Nels Cline and Vinnie Colaiuta.
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This week we're putting The Tonearm's needle on trumpeter, composer, and synthesist Mark Isham. He's out now with At the Carousel Club, his first solo album in fifteen years, built around vintage analog synthesizers and a band that includes Nels Cline, Vinnie Colaiuta, and a string quartet.
We talk about where the album's title comes from, his history with David Sylvian, and what it was like hearing the finished record on vinyl after sixteen hours of sessions.
(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Mark Isham's At The Carousel Club)
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00:00 Introduction
00:57 Taming the analog synth wall
02:02 Nels Cline and harnessed noise
03:16 I Sing the Body Electric and Weather Report
06:16 An accidental film composer
08:49 Narrative and form in instrumental music
10:35 Naming the pieces
12:52 What is the Carousel Club?
15:43 Bach, Miles Davis, and the trumpet's calling
18:48 The mystique of the mouthpiece
20:29 Writing for the strings and Vinnie Colaiuta
23:14 Kaveh Rastegar's loops and Nels Cline's wild card
24:32 Three hours, two days: casting the sessions
28:33 Mixing at Mad Hatter
30:33 Hearing the test pressing
32:28 Cal Tjader, Merl Saunders, and Jon Faddis
34:11 David Sylvian, Holger Czukay, and Jon Hassell
37:02 Taking the album live
39:07 Becoming his own label
42:55 Finding his own voice
44:15 Confidence and the inner editor
46:24 The next generation of trumpet players
48:04 Closing
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Visit Mark Isham at → https://isham.com
and follow on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/markisham
YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/markishammusic
and Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/markishamofficial
Purchase 'At the Carousel Club' from the Mark Isham store → http://store.isham.com
Bandcamp → https://markisham.bandcamp.com/album/at-the-carousel-club
or Qobuz → https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/at-the-carousel-club-mark-isham/fvw0e4ujgt1u0
and listen on your streaming platform of choice → https://album.link/i/6778937034
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