Castalia (album)
Encyclopedia
Castalia is an album by the American
trumpet
er/synthesist
Mark Isham
. The title refers to the mythical spring Castalia
on Mount Parnassus
in Greece
.
This album features a larger ensemble of musicians than Isham's previous albums. Artists who performed on this album include guitarists David Torn
and Peter Maunu, bassist Patrick O'Hearn
, drummer Terry Bozzio
and vocalist Gayle Moran
. O'Hearn, Bozzio and Maunu were all in Isham's early band Group 87. Torn's atmospheric guitar work and O'Hearn's bass playing make a major contribution to the unique style of this album. Most of the pieces are in a long format, often beginning with subtle ambient
textures and bursting into more active compositions. The song "In the Warmth of Your Night" is only available on CD.
The album's cover artwork features illustrations of the Lissajous apparatus
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er/synthesist
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
Mark Isham
Mark Isham
Mark Isham is an American trumpeter, synthesist, and film composer. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, electronic, and film.-Life and career:...
. The title refers to the mythical spring Castalia
Castalia
Castalia , in Greek mythology, was a nymph whom Apollo transformed into a fountain at Delphi, at the base of Mount Parnassos, or at Mount Helicon. Castalia could inspire the genius of poetry to those who drank her waters or listened to their quiet sound; the sacred water was also used to clean the...
on Mount Parnassus
Mount Parnassus
Mount Parnassus, also Parnassos , is a mountain of limestone in central Greece that towers above Delphi, north of the Gulf of Corinth, and offers scenic views of the surrounding olive groves and countryside. According to Greek mythology, this mountain was sacred to Apollo and the Corycian nymphs,...
in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
.
This album features a larger ensemble of musicians than Isham's previous albums. Artists who performed on this album include guitarists David Torn
David Torn
David Torn is an American composer and guitarist.He is known for the organic blending/manipulation of electronic and acoustic instruments and performance techniques that have an atmospheric or textural quality and effect, along with a particular harmonic richness...
and Peter Maunu, bassist Patrick O'Hearn
Patrick O'Hearn
Patrick O'Hearn is an American multi-instrumentalist musician, composer and recording artist. While his musical repertoire spans a diverse range of music, he is an acclaimed New Age artist in his solo career...
, drummer Terry Bozzio
Terry Bozzio
Terry John Bozzio is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa.-Biography:Terry Bozzio was born December 27, 1950 in San Francisco, California. He started at age 6 playing makeshift drum sets. At the age of 13 he saw The Beatles premier performance on The Ed...
and vocalist Gayle Moran
Gayle Moran
Gayle Moran is a vocalist, keyboard player , and songwriter. She was a member of the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the middle 70s, appearing on Apocalypse and Visions of the Emerald Beyond . She later appeared on recordings by Return to Forever, e.g. Musicmagic , and Chick Corea, e.g...
. O'Hearn, Bozzio and Maunu were all in Isham's early band Group 87. Torn's atmospheric guitar work and O'Hearn's bass playing make a major contribution to the unique style of this album. Most of the pieces are in a long format, often beginning with subtle ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
textures and bursting into more active compositions. The song "In the Warmth of Your Night" is only available on CD.
The album's cover artwork features illustrations of the Lissajous apparatus
Jules Antoine Lissajous
Jules Antoine Lissajous was a French mathematician, after whom Lissajous figures are named. Among other innovations, Lissajous invented the Lissajous apparatus, a device that creates the figures that bear his name...
.
Track listing (Long Play)
- "The Grand Parade" (Isham) – 5:50
- "My Wife with Champagne Shoulders" (Isham) – 5:26
- "A Meeting with the Parabolist" (Isham) – 13:09
- "Tales From the Maidan" (Isham, Torn) – 6:35
- "A Dream of Three Acrobats" (Isham) – 8:02
- "The Gracious Core" (Isham) – 9:00
Track listing (Compact Disc)
- "The Grand Parade" (Isham) – 5:50
- "Tales From the Maidan" (Isham, Torn) – 6:35
- "In the Warmth of Your Night" (Isham) – 9:10
- "My Wife with Champagne Shoulders" (Isham) – 5:26
- "A Meeting with the Parabolist" (Isham) – 13:09
- "A Dream of Three Acrobats" (Isham) – 8:02
- "The Gracious Core" (Isham) – 9:00
Personnel
- Mark IshamMark IshamMark Isham is an American trumpeter, synthesist, and film composer. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, electronic, and film.-Life and career:...
– trumpet, keyboards, electronics, J.L. Cooper/Perkins MIDI trumpet (track 2), electronic percussion (track 2), flugelhornFlugelhornThe flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
(track 3) - David TornDavid TornDavid Torn is an American composer and guitarist.He is known for the organic blending/manipulation of electronic and acoustic instruments and performance techniques that have an atmospheric or textural quality and effect, along with a particular harmonic richness...
– lap steel guitarLap steel guitarThe lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
(track 1), electric guitar (tracks 2 - 4 and 6), acoustic guitar (track 6) - Terry BozzioTerry BozzioTerry John Bozzio is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa.-Biography:Terry Bozzio was born December 27, 1950 in San Francisco, California. He started at age 6 playing makeshift drum sets. At the age of 13 he saw The Beatles premier performance on The Ed...
– drums (tracks 1, 5 and 7) - Mick KarnMick KarnAndonis Michaelides , better known as Mick Karn, was an English multi-instrumentalist musician and songwriter, who came to fame as the bassist for the art rock band Japan, from 1974 to 1982....
– electric bass (track 1) - Peter Maunu – acoustic guitar (tracks 2 and 4) electric guitar (track 6)
- Paul McCandlessPaul McCandlessPaul McCandless, Jr. is an American jazz woodwind player and composer. He is one of few expert jazz oboists, and also plays English horn, soprano saxophone, sopranino saxophone, bass clarinet, clarinet, and pennywhistle, among other instruments.He has performed with the Paul Winter Consort and is...
– English horn (tracks 2 and 3), bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
(tracks 2 and 6), soprano saxophoneSoprano saxophoneThe soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
(track 2), sopraninorota saxophone, (track 2), oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
(track 3) - Patrick O'HearnPatrick O'HearnPatrick O'Hearn is an American multi-instrumentalist musician, composer and recording artist. While his musical repertoire spans a diverse range of music, he is an acclaimed New Age artist in his solo career...
– electric bass (track 3, 5 and 6) - Bill Douglass – acoustic bass (tracks 3 and 6)
- Kurt Wortman – electronic drums and percussion (track 3), Xianjiang tambourine (track 6)
- Mark Adler string arrangement (track 4)
- Gayle MoranGayle MoranGayle Moran is a vocalist, keyboard player , and songwriter. She was a member of the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the middle 70s, appearing on Apocalypse and Visions of the Emerald Beyond . She later appeared on recordings by Return to Forever, e.g. Musicmagic , and Chick Corea, e.g...
– vocals (tracks 5 and 7) - John Isham – Great Highland BagpipeGreat Highland BagpipeThe Great Highland Bagpipe is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland. It has achieved widespread recognition through its usage in the British military and in pipe bands throughout the world. It is closely related to the Great Irish Warpipes....
(track 7) - Gary Clayton – Mixer and Recording Engineer