Eckart Rahn, founder of respected and pioneering world music/ambient label Celestial Harmonies, has given his business a philosophy: "The art of refinement through expression". It would be hard to a find a better example of that ideal than the music of Jon Mark, who's music captures a sense of time and place with extraordinary sensitivity and feeling.

Mark’s move into the ambient zone came fairly late in a career that started in the 60’s playing guitar alongside The Rolling Stones and bluesman John Mayal. In 1971 he formed the Mark-Almond Band with saxophonist David Almond, a jazz/rock/folk fusion combo which built a loyal following during the 70’s. Mark’s instrumental solo debut, the all-synthesiser Standing Stones Of Callanish, was released following his relocation to New Zealand in the mid-1980’s.

A breathtaking achievement, Standing Stones mines its source - the Celtic legacy of Britain - with a sensitivity that was at the time unprecedented in the ambient genre. Mark’s tone is unmistakable: broad, sweeping, multi-layered keyboard harmonies of incredible richness and textural subtlety, underpinned by deep, resonant bass drones. The album is by turns exhilarating (“Journey Across The Crystal Sea”), romantic (“Choe’s Day”) and darkly foreboding (“Coming Of The North Wind”). The music’s folk connections remain ambiguous. Is that traces of Anglo-Irish folk melodies we hear embedded in the mix? Or has Mark created this pictorial language largely on his own? And what of his jazz roots? It’s all rather difficult to tell but after years of Celtic-themed ambient releases The Standing Stones Of Callanish still possesses the evocative power of a truly definitive work.

So definitive, in fact, that Mark’s several other Celtic-themed releases pale in comparison. Far better than those is Alhambra. Turning from Britain to the heritage and melodies of Moorish Spain he delivers another magnificently evocative set, this time enhancing his trademark keyboard washes with touches of trumpet, classical guitar and a sprinkling of light percussion. Regal, mysterious, and blessed with moments of pure rapture - notably “Glory Of Spain” - you will be moved.

By 1993 Mark had formed his own label White Cloud as both an outlet for both his own music and a roster of other artists. The pick of the bunch from these years is A Sunday In Autumn on which he paints fascinatingly vivid pictures of a day spent in New York; firstly upstate in the idyllic countryside of New England, then on the streets of New York City. Piano and brass make a telling impression on tracks like “Sunday Morning” and “The City, the Bag Lady and the Snow”, the latter featuring some exquisitely phrased flugelhorn by local legend Jacki Coon. It exudes a more jazzy ambience than the others with a distinctly urban feel, and like all good impressionists Mark rarely resorts to sugary sentiment to make his point.

Discography:

A Celtic Story

Alhambra

All The Best From Jon Mark

Asia Journey

Hot Night

Land Of Merlin

Leaving Of Ireland

Nightmusic

Songs For a Friend

Sunday In Autumn

The Standing Stones Of Callanish