jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

Roy Hargrove Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles ...

Impulse! Records Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positi ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

"Get to Know Jazz Fellowship Awards Finalist Sullivan Fortner"
(October 7, 2014) American Pianists Association."Sullivan Fortner"
(September 22, 2013) Smalls Live. 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 Perfect commonly refers to: * Perfection, completeness, excellence * Perfect (grammar), a grammatical category in some languages Perfect may also refer to: Film * ''Perfect'' (1985 film), a romantic drama * ''Perfect'' (2018 film), a science ...

to learn and play music; this had to change when he successfully auditioned for the

New Orleans Center for Creative Arts New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, or NOCCA, is the regional, pre-professional arts training center for high school students in Louisiana. NOCCA opened in 1973 as a professional arts training center for secondary school-age children. Locat ...

. Fortner went on to obtain a bachelor's degree from the

Oberlin Conservatory of Music The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music conservatory in Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the second oldest conservatory and oldest continually operating conservatory in the United States. It is one of ...

and a master's degree from the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

.

Later life and career

In 2009, Fortner was part of vibraphonist

Stefon Harris Stefon DeLeon Harris (born March 23, 1973) is an American jazz vibraphonist. Biography A native of Albany, New York, Harris intended to work for the New York Philharmonic until he heard the music of Charlie Parker. During the 1990s he recorded ...

' band, including for a tour of Europe. Fortner was pianist in trumpeter

Roy Hargrove Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles ...

's quintet from 2010 to 2017.West, Michael J. (January 25, 2015
Pianist Sullivan Fortner and Ensemble at Kennedy Center"
''The Washington Post''. Fortner became strongly influenced by fellow pianist

Barry Harris Barry Doyle Harris (December 15, 1929 – December 8, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. He was an exponent of the bebop style. Life and career Harris was born in Detroit, Michigan, on December ...

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. In 2015, Fortner was the winner of the

American Pianists Association The American Pianists Association is a performing arts organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, that holds two national, quadrennial piano competitions in alternating 2-year cycles: the Classical Fellowship Awards and the Jazz Fellowshi ...

Cole Porter Fellowship in Jazz, a prize that consists of "$50,000, the opportunity to record for

Mack Avenue Records Mack Avenue Records is an independent record label in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Background Mack Avenue was founded in 1999 by Gretchen Carhartt Valade, a jazz fan and chair of the American apparel company Carhartt. The company is a sponsor ...

, and two years of professional career services and development". 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 Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positi ...

, and received a four-star review from ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine. The next, ''Moments Preserved'', was mainly a trio album, with Saleem and Clemons, but Hargrove also played on three of the tracks. Fortner played on some of the tracks that formed Paul Simon's album ''

In the Blue Light ''In the Blue Light'' is the fourteenth solo studio album by American folk rock singer-songwriter Paul Simon. Produced by Paul Simon and Roy Halee, it was released on September 7, 2018, through Legacy Recordings. The album consists of re-record ...

''.

Awards and honors

*2016:

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

Award for Emerging Artists "Steinway Featured Artist: Sullivan Fortner"
*2016: ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine: "25 for the Future" *2020: ''DownBeat'' Critics' Poll, Rising Star Arranger

Discography

An asterisk (*) indicates the year the album was released.

As leader

As sideman

References