Sullivan Fortner

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

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][5]

In 2009, Fortner was part of vibraphonist Stefon Harris' band,^[6] including for a tour of Europe.^[4] Fortner was pianist in trumpeter Roy Hargrove's quintet from 2010 to 2017.^[4][7] Fortner became strongly influenced by fellow pianist Barry Harris from 2011, when he realised that his knowledge of the music was too shallow.^[4] Fortner recorded with the Hargrove band's saxophonist, Justin Robinson, in 2013.^[8] In 2015, Fortner was the winner of the American Piano Awards 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".^[9]

In early 2015, Fortner's quartet contained saxophonist Tivon Pennicott, bassist Ameen Saleem and drummer Jeremy "Bean" Clemons.^[7] Fortner's first release as leader was Aria from Impulse! Records, and received a four-star review from DownBeat magazine.^[10] The next, Moments Preserved, was mainly a trio album, with Saleem and Clemons, but Hargrove also played on three of the tracks.^[4] Fortner played on some of the tracks that formed Paul Simon's album In the Blue Light.^[4][11]

• 2016: Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists ^[12]
• 2016: DownBeat magazine: "25 for the Future"^[13]
• 2020: DownBeat Critics' Poll, Rising Star Arranger^[14]

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