Sullivan Fortner

Fortner was born and grew up in New Orleans.[1][2] He started playing the piano from the age of four.[1] He was inspired to play by seeing a woman playing the organ in a local church.[2] His mother was the choir director of a Baptist church; he began playing the organ there at the age of seven.[3] 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.[3] 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.[2][4]

In 2009, Fortner was part of vibraphonist Stefon Harris' band,[5] including for a tour of Europe.[3] Fortner was pianist in trumpeter Roy Hargrove's quintet from 2010 to 2017.[3][6] Fortner became strongly influenced by fellow pianist Barry Harris from 2011, when he realised that his knowledge of the music was too shallow.[3] Fortner recorded with the Hargrove band's saxophonist, Justin Robinson, in 2013.[7] 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".[8]

In early 2015, Fortner's quartet contained saxophonist Tivon Pennicott, bassist Ameen Saleem and drummer Jeremy "Bean" Clemons.[6] Fortner's first release as leader was Aria from Impulse! Records, and received a four-star review from DownBeat magazine.[9] The next, Moments Preserved, was mainly a trio album, with Saleem and Clemons, but Hargrove also played on three of the tracks.[3] Fortner played on some of the tracks that formed Paul Simon's album In the Blue Light.[3][10]

• 2016: Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists [11]
• 2016: DownBeat magazine: "25 for the Future"[12]
• 2020: DownBeat Critics' Poll, Rising Star Arranger[13]

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