Today's Rediscovery? Trumpeter/composer Mark Isham's 1995 release, Blue Sun, published at All About Jazz.
Better-known, perhaps, for his work in the film arena as scorer for movies including 1986's The Hitcher, the 1992 reboot of Of Mice and Men and 1998's Blade, Mark Isham has, nevertheless, demonstrated his instrumental prowess as a trumpeter on albums including pianist Art Lande's Rubisa Patrol (ECM, 1976), singer/songwriter Van Morrison's Beautiful Vision (Warner Bros., 1982), David Sylvian's Brilliant Trees (Virgin, 1984), David Torn's Cloud About Mercury (ECM, 1987) and singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now (Reprise, 2000) But it's on two albums that Isham released in the mid-to-late-'90s where he not only demonstrated his strength as a player, but as a composer of music in the jazz sphere and as a bandleader capable of putting together a real roadworthy group. Both albums are worthy of Rediscovery, but for the sake of sheer surprise, 1995's Blue Sun (Columbia) wins by a nose.
While both Blue Sun and its 1999 followup, Miles Remembered: The Silent Way Project (Columbia), both paid tribute to the importance of trumpet icon Miles Davis, the second album was more aggressively electric, despite some softer, more atmospheric inclusions like Isham's arrangement of the Davis staple, Joe Zawinul's title track to In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969); and an ethereal look at Davis' classic song from his game-changing Kind of Blue (Columbia, 1958), "All Blues."
Still, Blue Sun is overall a more successful venture if for no other reason than Isham's compositional contributions rendering his subject clear while, at the same time, being devoted to a more original work of music. Miles Remembered does contain some Isham originals, but it's largely predicated on music culled from across Davis' career, ranging from Milestones (Columbia, 1958) through to Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970), On the Corner (Columbia, 1972) and Big Fun (Columbia, 1974); Blue Sun, on the other hand, is more reflective of Davis' influence through the prism of Isham's own writing and playing, with seven of Blue Sun's nine tracks penned by the trumpeter, and its two other tunes culled from the repertoires of Duke Ellington (a particularly poignant "In a Sentimental Mood") and the writing team of Jerome Moross, John Latouche and Jürg Morgenthaler ("Lazy Afternoon").
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