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Sullivan Fortner
For the past decade, Sullivan Fortner has been stretching deep-rooted talents as a pianist, composer, band leader and uncompromising individualist. The GRAMMY Award-winning artist out of New Orleans received international praise as both key player and producer for his collaborative work on The Window, alongside Cecile McLorin Salvant. As a solo leader, he has released Moments Preserved and Aria to critical acclaim.
In addition to associations with such diverse voices as Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Diane Reeves, Etienne Charles and John Scofield, Fortner’s frequent and longtime collaborators have included Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stefon Harris, Kassa Overall, Tivon Pennicott, Peter Bernstein, Nicholas Payton, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Fred Hersch and the late Roy Hargrove. Recent collaborations include GRAMMY-nominated releases Dear Love (Empress Legacy) and Generations from leaders Jazzmeia Horn and The Baylor Project, respectively.
A highly-sought improviser, Fortner has performed across the country and throughout the world at such cultural institutions as Snug Harbor, New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Lorraine’s and The Jazz Playhouse in New Orleans, and Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazz Standard and Smalls Jazz Club in New York City. He’s appeared at celebrated festivals, including Newport, Monterey, Discover, Tri-C and Gillmore Keyboard, among others. In 2019, Fortner brought his band to the historic Village Vanguard for a week-long engagement he would reprise in 2020 as a virtual performance during lockdown. His notable studio contributions include work on Etienne Charles’s Kaiso (Culture Shock, 2011), Donald Harrison’s Quantum Leap (FOMP, 2010), and Theo Croker’s The Fundamentals (Left Sided Music, 2007).
Playing solo or leading an orchestra, Fortner engages harmony and rhythmic ideas through curiosity and clarity. Within phrases, he finds universes, and listeners often hear how he’s moved by each note he explores. Coming up in New Orleans, Fortner began playing piano at age 7, following a storied lineage of improvisers, masters of time and every iteration of the blues. He earned his Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory and Master of Music in Jazz Performance from Manhattan School of Music (MSM). A champion of mentorship, Fortner has offered masterclasses at MSM, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), Purdue University, Lafayette Summer Music Workshop, Belmont University and Oberlin Conservatory where he held a faculty position.
Pulling distinct elements from different eras, Fortner’s artistry preserves the tradition and evolves the sound. He seeks connections among different musical styles that are at once deeply soulful and wildly inventive.
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Weather Bird: Sullivan Fortner and Ambrose Akinmusire at Rackham Auditorium
by C. Andrew Hovan
Weather Bird: Sullivan Fortner and Ambrose Akinmusire Rackham Auditorium 27th Performance of the UMS 145th Annual Season Ann Arbor, MI March 22, 2024 When it comes to its annual concert series, Ann Arbor's University Musical Society utilizes Hill Auditorium and the Michigan Theater as the venues for the majority of its performances. When this rare appearance of pianist Sullivan Fortner and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire was set to take place at another performance space on ...
read moreJudy Niemack: What's Love?
by Angelo Leonardi
Potrebbe non essere gentile iniziare questa recensione ricordando l'età della signora Niemack ma per un'artista ancora così attrattiva ed efficace, l'imminenza dei settant'anni non rappresenta un problema. La cantante californiana mantiene la sua cifra espressiva, aggiungendo nuove ombreggiature vocali e un incedere più intimo e colloquiale, come evidenzia in questo disco. Come altri recenti progetti il lavoro ha subito un arresto per le restrizioni sociali della pandemia che ha fatto saltare la presentazione al Village Vanguard tre ...
read moreSullivan Fortner: Solo Game
by Angelo Leonardi
Partner preferito di Cécile McLorin Salvant, con cui ha inciso tre dischi, Sullivan Fortner è tra i pianisti più autorevoli della sua generazione. Le doti evidenti sono il magistero tecnico, la ricercatezza stilistica e l'equilibrio che pone tra rispetto della tradizione e ricerca personale. Nel suo percorso professionale di oltre quindici anni ha inciso solo tre dischi a suo nome (l'ultimo, Moments Preserved è di cinque anni fa), mentre le collaborazioni con altri sono numerose e significative: Roy ...
read moreSullivan Fortner: Solo Game
by Mike Jurkovic
Mentored by Fred Hersch and Jason Moran, and produced by Hersch, Solo Game puts pianist Sullivan Fortner in a really good place. That is before the music even starts. Then it does start with a sly and subdued solo on Stevie Wonder's buoyant 1973 top tenner, Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing," while dropping subtle hints to the trip ahead, forged by Fortner's quixotic self. Fortner, who has steadily grown a discography which includes his own quartet recording ...
read moreSullivan Fortner, Elsa Nilsson, Isaiah Collier, Endea Owens & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
Stevie Wonder, Maya Angelou, Ryuichi Sakamoto, the crazy world we live in, and the world immigrants left behind are some of the sources of inspiration of the intriguing music featured this week.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Isaiah Collier Retreat" Parallel Universe (Night Dreamer) 0:16 Host talks 8:15 Endea Owens For the People" Feel Good Music (BassBae Music) 10:00 Host talks 16:40 Sullivan Fortner Don't You Worry About ...
read moreSamara Joy: A Joyful Holiday
by Dave Linn
It's been a whirlwind 15 months for Samara Joy. After announcing she signed with Verve, her debut for the label, Linger Awhile (2022) was released to great acclaim. She was then nominated (and won) two Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal. The success of that record was followed up with Linger Awhile Deluxe Edition (Verve, 2023) containing another album's worth of material. Joy has also put out a single, Tight," where she pays tribute to Betty Carter ...
read moreCecile McLorin Salvant: Mélusine
by Katchie Cartwright
Wynton Marsalis was right, Cécile McLorin Salvant is the sort of singer who comes along only once in a generation or two." A MacArthur Fellow, multiple Grammy winner, and self-described eclectic, Salvant creates projects that encompass an astonishing array of idioms and historical periods, which she interrelates inventively and interweaves with original compositions. Here, she plumbs the francophone side of her repertoire. French songs have cropped up regularly in her live shows, but less on disk. Mélusine fills the gap ...
read moreThe New Jersey Performing Arts Center And The Bethany Baptist Church Jazz Vespers Continue Free Monthly Jazz Concert Series February–June 2024
Source:
AMT Public Relations
First Saturday of every month @ 6:00 p.m. February 3, March 2, April 6, May 4 and June 1 Bethany Baptist Church 275 W. Market Street Newark, NJ Free. For more information, contact NJPAC at 1.888.466.5722 or visit NJPAC.org/jazz. Sat 2.03 @ 6:00 p.m. | Bethany Vespers Series: Bill Charlap Trio Bill Charlap – piano Noriko Uesa – bassv Dennis Mackrel – drums Co-presented by Bethany Baptist Church and NJPAC, February’s Bethany Vesper Concert Series ...
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Sullivan Fortner
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
This may come a tad late as news but not too late—I trust—for enjoyment. Last spring, Sullivan Fortner won the Cole Porter Fellow In Jazz award of the American Pianists Association. Fortner is a 28-year-old New Orleanian who attracted favorable notice as the pianist in trumpeter Roy Hargrove’s quintet and for his work with other jazz artists including Christian Scott and Stefon Harris. The award and its $100,000 prize came in competition with four other rising pianists, Christian Sands, Zach ...
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Music
Born To Be Blue
From: What's Love?By Sullivan Fortner
What Is This Thing Called Love / Habanera
From: Love The Color of Your ButterflyBy Sullivan Fortner
Dindi
From: Lauren HendersonBy Sullivan Fortner