''We Begin'' (1987) is a collaborative album by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musicians

Mark Isham Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and film composer. A trumpeter and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including jazz and electronic. He is also a film composer, having worked on numerous films and t ...

and

Art Lande Art Lande is an American musician who was born in New York City, United States, on 5 February 1947. Born in New York, Lande began piano at age 4. He attended Williams College and moved to San Francisco in 1969. In 1973 he recorded '' Red Lanta,' ...

. It is a highly experimental album featuring a wide range of compositional styles. The first track on the album is a piece titled “ The Melancholy of Departure”. It consists of a soft and mournful trumpet melody set against a harsh and almost mechanical rhythm. “The Melancholy of Departure” takes its title from a 1916 work by the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

metaphysical painter

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...

. The two most experimental tracks on the album are “Ceremony in Starlight” and “Surface and Symbol”. “Ceremony in Starlight” is an eerie

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

composition with muted trumpet, piano and synthesized bells. “Surface and Symbol” is a complex arrangement of

looped ''Looped'' is a play by Matthew Lombardo about an event surrounding actress Tallulah Bankhead. It had a Broadway run in 2010, after two previous productions in 2008 and 2009, all three of them featuring Valerie Harper. Plot Based on a real even ...

trumpet, piano and percussion with synthesizer accompaniments.

Track listing

#”The Melancholy of Departure” (Isham) – 6:32 #”Ceremony in Starlight” (Isham) – 7:34 #”We Begin” (Lande) – 6:19 #”Lord Ananea” (Lande) – 2:42 #”Surface and Symbol” (Isham, Lande) – 10:45 #”Sweet Circle” (Lande) – 4:09 #”Fanfare” (Lande) – 3:26

Personnel

*Mark Isham – trumpet,

fluegelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

piccolo trumpet The piccolo trumpet is the smallest member of the trumpet family, pitched one octave higher than the standard B trumpet. Most piccolo trumpets are built to play in either B or A, using a separate leadpipe for each key. The tubing in the B piccol ...

, synthesizer, percussion *Art Lande – piano, synthesizer, percussion {{Authority control Mark Isham albums Art Lande albums 1987 albums Albums produced by Manfred Eicher ECM Records albums