Search - Jon Mark :: Sunday in Autumn

Captures perfectly the feel of the season

Bill Binkelman, Wind and Wire | Minneapolis, MN United States | 07/07/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jon Mark uses his electronic keyboards to produce a CD filled with incredibly evocative music. The melancholy and reflection that flow through every song on this recording are indicative of the time of year when trees go bare, the air grows cold, and winter begins to appear. Some of the songs are tinged with bittersweet memories, others are more minor-key and somber. All the music is beautiful in the same way that Tim Story's music is sad yet filled with grace. In particular, the sixteen-plus minute "The City, the Bag Lady, and the Snow" is rich with nuance, thanks to the mixture of Jon's synthesizer shadings and the muted bluesy flugelhorn of a guest musician (whose name escapes me). If you live in a big city and have walked the streets at night, this song will definitely speak to you.I rank this as one of the premier "late-night" listens in my entire 700+ CD collection. It's romantic (in the classical sense), beautiful, sad, and melancholic music. Jon is one of the best in the business at creating electronic music soundscapes that are both ambient and listenable at the same time. A SUNDAY IN AUTUMN is, in my opinion, his best work (although THE STANDING STONES OF CALLANISH comes very close to perfection as well)."

Beautiful, but it could have been better

Daniel R. Greenfield | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | 12/23/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The concept behind this work was highly original: To present a suite of impressionistic sketches of a beautiful autumn day in the city; to evoke the persistent and bittersweet theme of a beautiful day lost forever in the past -- a golden beauty irretrievably lost in the winds of time. The beginning of this album is quite moving, as Mark begins to slowly conjure the gentle and quiet beauty of that long-forgotten day. But as the music progresses from scene to scene, the composer gradually seems to run out of inspiration. By the time we get into the beginning of track 8, the unmistakable feeling emerges that we are in the midst of filler. Alas, that feeling is confirmed in track 9, which is pure filler and completely unworthy of this artist's genius. Finally, the music ends with a soft restatement of the opening theme. Overall, it is a beautiful album; the first seven tracks represents some of this artist's best work. The rest is mostly filler."

This album truly astonishes me even after all these years

Distant Voyageur | Io | 07/11/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't really say enough of how much I really adore and treasure this CD. The title of this album couldn't have been better because the music is truly the kind of music for an autumn night. The music is very serene, ambient, and very melancholy, the right kind for a cloudy autumn evening. Every song on here great but three songs stand out to me. First Snowfall is absolutely moving and truly brings up images of a snowy evening. I love the theme of this album considering that I love autumn alot. Sunday Morning is absolutely haunting. It's a very ambient, eerie haunting trak with a very serene feel like standing outside the entrance to a large cathedral and it's dark and cloudy out boon a cloudy dusk evening with the church bell ringing. Thinking Of You sounds kind of out of place on here because unlike the rest of Sunday this song is very sunny daytime in mood but even with this atmosphere this track then again belongs on here because I could play this on a sunny autumn day when the leaves are red. The winner on here is track 8, The City The Bag Lady and The Snow. I cannot say enough of how powerful this track really is. It's a 16 and a half minute bittersweet journey of an evening long lost in time and the song shifts in moods as it plays along. The first half is kind of evening in sound while the second half is more dramatic but the feel of the song basically stays the same. The truth is this track needs listening to really understand what I'm trying to say because the sheer brilliance of this composition is beyond words. Even six years after first hearing this, this song still moves me like no other and is probably one of my all-time favroite New Age songs. I would never give this album for anything, not even for a million dollars because it's so wonderful and evocotive. I'm willing to search for a new copy of it just in case my old copy wears out soon because I listen to it so much. This CD is worth owning for track 8 alone. Fabulous work Jon!"