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Sullivan Fortner

Sullivan Joseph Fortner Jr. is a native New Orleanian who has already made a significant foray into the jazz world that belies his young age. While touring with Stefon Harris & Blackout, Christian Scott Quintet, and the Roy Hargrove Quintet, Sullivan completed his Master’s degree in Jazz Performance at Manhattan School of Music under the tutorage of Jason Moran, and Phil Markowitz. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance from Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Sullivan began playing music by ear at the age of seven. Two years later, he was playing for church choirs throughout New Orleans. By the time he was 11 years old, Sullivan had won a Cox Cable “Amazing Kids Award”. At the age of 13, Sullivan furthered his formal education in piano by attending the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) and earned scholarships to several prestigious summer jazz programs, including the Vail Jazz Institute and the Skidmore Jazz Studies Summer Program. A standout on the stage and in the classroom, Sullivan was Valedictorian of his high school class while simultaneously graduating from NOCCA. He has studied and performed with many great musicians, including The Marsalis Family, Donald Harrison, Nicholas Payton, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, Marcus Belgrave, The Jordan Family, Irvin Mayfield, Peter Martin, Dave Liebman, and a host of others. Source: Contributor Editor: Kandie Le Britain Webster

Awards

Sullivan Fortner is the 2015 Cole Porter Fellow in Jazz of the American Pianist Association.


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Album Review

Judy Niemack: What's Love?

Read "What's Love?" reviewed 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 ...

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Album Review

Sullivan Fortner: Solo Game

Read "Solo Game" reviewed 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 ...

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Album Review

Sullivan Fortner: Solo Game

Read "Solo Game" reviewed 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 ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Sullivan Fortner, Elsa Nilsson, Isaiah Collier, Endea Owens & More

Read "Sullivan Fortner, Elsa Nilsson, Isaiah Collier, Endea Owens & More" reviewed 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 ...

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Album Review

Samara Joy: A Joyful Holiday

Read "A Joyful Holiday" reviewed 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 ...

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Album Review

Cecile McLorin Salvant: Mélusine

Read "Mélusine" reviewed 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 ...

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Album Review

Mike Moreno: Standards From Film

Read "Standards From Film" reviewed by Chris May


At last. An enjoyable alternative to the ghastly albums of “jazzed up" hymns and Christmas carols which spew forth every holiday season. There is nothing overtly Christmassy about guitarist Mike Moreno's Standards From Film, but it is appropriate that the album, recorded in New York in December 2021, was released in the UK in early December 2022 and came out in the US a month or so earlier. It nails the seasonal nostalgia spike and then some. ...

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Performance / Tour

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center And The Bethany Baptist Church Jazz Vespers Continue Free Monthly Jazz Concert Series February–June 2024

The 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 ...

Award / Grant

Sullivan Fortner

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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Concerts

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Mélusine

Nonesuch Records
2023

buy

The Contrapuntist

Sunnyside Records
2023

buy

A Joyful Holiday

Verve Records
2023

buy

Solo Game

Artwork
2023

buy

Ghost Song

Nonesuch Records
2022

buy

First Move

Cellar Live
2022

buy

Born To Be Blue

From: What's Love?
By Sullivan Fortner

What Is This Thing Called Love / Habanera

From: Love The Color of Your Butterfly
By Sullivan Fortner

Dindi

From: Lauren Henderson
By Sullivan Fortner

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