Trust is the first album of the Mark Tourian Sextet. This project was a decade in the making, and was made possible only because of a great amount of hard work by some people who are very dear to me. The music is both a reflection of the ups and downs of this period of my life, as well and a prayer for hope, renewal, and a bright future for us all.
Ten years ago, Japan was trying to move past the tragic events of the Great Tohoku Earthquake. Attempts to rebuild and recover from the damage were hampered by the danger and uncertainty of a nuclear crisis. In Tokyo, there was almost no work for musicians for six months. While this sudden state of unemployment was a big stress, it gave me a chance to start putting down on paper some ideas for arrangements that I had had in my head for some time. As I got more engrossed in the process of creating new music, composing became a tremendous catharsis for dealing with the complex emotions that so many of us were feeling during this troubled time.
By the end of the summer of 2011 I had completed a number of things, and I decided to put together the band MT6 to showcase the new music. We gave our first performance in October of that year. I continued to compose for the band, and we did a lot of rehearsing and performing to tackle what proved to be some very challenging material.
In the summer of 2013 I decided it was time to document some of this hard work. We did a live recording at our “home base,” B Flat in Akasaka, and we spent one very long day at Studio Dede in Ikebukuro. Later I realized just how lucky I was to capture these two performances of this particular lineup of the band. Soon afterwards two of the original members left the Tokyo scene, and from there the sound of the band naturally evolved into something else.
Increasing demands on my time, the financial challenges of raising a family, and some major changes in the business of producing and distributing music all took their toll, and these recordings into which we had put so much hard work and love sat dormant for more than seven years. It took another major disruption in our lives for me to finally return to this project and to see it to its completion. By April of 2020 almost all of my performance work was cancelled due to the pandemic, and I found myself with an unexpected bounty of time at home. With the generous support of our government(s), I was able to ensure there was still food on the table as I set to finally giving this music a chance to be heard by the world.
The work is entitled “Trust” and that theme is both an embodiment of the relationship the six musicians developed working on moving this music “off the page,” as well as a prayer for the people of the world to put aside our differences and work together to confront the great challenges we face in the world of 2021.
The album consists of nine songs, five of which come from the standard jazz repertoire, and four of which are original compositions. The music is dedicated to the people of Fukushima, who are continuing the struggle to put their lives back together after the terrible events of 2011.
- Mark Tourian
Mark Tourian
1. Night and day 08:06
2. Fight for survival 10:18
3. Little island 08:58
4. Trust 09:04
5. If I should lose you 07:47
6. September song 06:52
7. Invitation 07:32
8. Con alma 07:14
9. Cleanup 07:04
MT6 members:
James Mahone - alto sax
Yoshiro Okazaki - trumpet
Pat Hallaran - trombone
Simon Cosgrove - piano
Juasa Kanoh - drums
Mark Tourian - bass and leader
NIGHT AND DAY by Cole Porter ©Warner Bros Music a Div of Warner Bros Inc.
FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL by Mark Tourian ©Panormo Publishing (ASCAP)
LITTLE ISLAND by Mark Tourian ©Panormo Publishing (ASCAP)
TRUST by Mark Tourian ©Panormo Publishing (ASCAP)
IF I SHOULD LOSE YOU by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin ©Sony/ATV Harmony
SEPTEMBER SONG by Max Anderson and Kurt Weill ©Chappell and Co. and Hampshire House Publishing
INVITATION by Bronislau Kaper and Paul Francis Webster ©EMI Robbins Catalog Inc. and Webster Music Corp.
CON ALMA by Dizzy Gillespie ©EMI April Music Inc. o/b/o Dizlo Music Corp.
CLEANUP by Mark Tourian ©Panormo Publishing (ASCAP)
Recorded live in Tokyo at B Flat on July 21 and at Studio Dede on July 25, 2013.
Akira Suzuki (B Flat)
Masakazu Tomi (live recording)
Akihito Yoshikawa (Studio Dede)
Bob Ward (mixing and mastering)
Toru Takashita (cover photo)
© Copyright 2021 Panormo Music
