| Sullivan Fortner | |
| Birth Place: | New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Birth Date: | 29 December 1986 |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Occupation: | Musician, composer |
| Instrument: | Piano |
| Years Active: | 2000s–present |
| Associated Acts: | Roy Hargrove |
Sullivan Joseph Fortner (born December 29, 1986) is an American jazz pianist. He was the regular pianist in trumpeter Roy Hargrove's band from 2010 to 2017, and has released two albums on Impulse! Records.
Fortner was born and grew up in New Orleans.[1] [2] He started playing the piano from the age of four. He was inspired to play by seeing a woman playing the organ in a local church. His mother was the choir director of a Baptist church; he began playing the organ there at the age of seven. For a time, he relied on his perfect pitch to learn and play music; this had to change when he successfully auditioned for the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. Fortner went on to obtain a bachelor's degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and a master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music.[3]
In 2009, Fortner was part of vibraphonist Stefon Harris' band,[4] including for a tour of Europe. Fortner was pianist in trumpeter Roy Hargrove's quintet from 2010 to 2017.[5] Fortner became strongly influenced by fellow pianist Barry Harris from 2011, when he realised that his knowledge of the music was too shallow. Fortner recorded with the Hargrove band's saxophonist, Justin Robinson, in 2013.[6] In 2015, Fortner was the winner of the American Pianists Association Cole Porter Fellowship in Jazz, a prize that consists of "$50,000, the opportunity to record for Mack Avenue Records, and two years of professional career services and development".[7]
In early 2015, Fortner's quartet contained saxophonist Tivon Pennicott, bassist Ameen Saleem and drummer Jeremy "Bean" Clemons. Fortner's first release as leader was Aria from Impulse! Records, and received a four-star review from DownBeat magazine.[8] The next, Moments Preserved, was mainly a trio album, with Saleem and Clemons, but Hargrove also played on three of the tracks.[9] Fortner played on some of the tracks that formed Paul Simon's album In the Blue Light.[10]
An asterisk (*) indicates the year the album was released.
| Year recorded | Title | Label | Personnel | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015* | Aria | Impulse! | Quartet, with Tivon Pennicott (tenor sax, soprano sax), Aidan Carroll (bass), Joe Dyson Jr. (drums) | |
| 2018* | Moments Preserved | Impulse! | Most tracks trio, with Ameen Saleem (bass), Jeremy "Bean" Clemons (drums); three tracks quartet, with Roy Hargrove added | |
| 2018 | Tea for Two | Duo, with Kyle Athayde (vibraphone) | ||
| 2023 | Solo Game | Artwork Records | Solo album (Fortner plays piano, Hammond B3, Fender Rhodes, vocoder, carillon, celesta, drum set, percussion, etc.) |
| Year recorded | Leader | Title | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007* | The Fundamentals | Left Sided Music | ||
| 2009* | This Is Now | |||
| 2010* | Quantum Leaps | Fomp | ||
| 2011* | Kaiso | Culture Shock | ||
| 2011 | Lauren Henderson | Brontosaurus | ||
| 2011* | Arnold Lee Quartet | Leeandthem | ||
| 2011 | Afro Physicist | OKeh/DDB | ||
| 2012* | Five Colors | |||
| 2013 | Alana's Fantasy | Criss Cross Jazz | ||
| 2015 | A La Madrugada | Brontosaurus | ||
| 2015* | Short History | Blu Jazz | ||
| 2016 | Dreams and Daggers | Mack Avenue | ||
| 2017* | A Thing Called Joe | Sunnyside | ||
| 2018 | Ármame | Brontosaurus | ||
| 2018* | In the Blue Light | Legacy | ||
| 2018* | The Window | Mack Avenue | ||
| 2019 | Alma Oscura | Brontosaurus | ||
| 2019* | Terrible Animals | Criss Cross Jazz[14] | ||
| 2020 | The Songbook Session | Brontosaurus | ||
| 2020 | Classic Christmas | Brontosaurus | ||
| 2020 | What Comes Next | Smoke Sessions | ||
| 2020–21 | Ghost Song | Nonesuch | ||
| 2021 | Musa | Brontosaurus | ||
| 2022* | 12 Stars | |||
| 2022* | Standards From Film | |||
| 2023 | A Joyful Holiday | Verve[15] |