Sullivan Fortner Trio | New Mexico Jazz Festival
Sullivan Fortner Trio | 17th Annual New Mexico Jazz Festival
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
7:30 pm (MDT)
Pianist, composer and band leader, Sullivan Fortner, who received international praise as both key player and producer for his collaborative work alongside multi-Grammy winning vocalist and composer Cecile McLorin Salvant’s The Window in 2018, is a highly-sought improviser and Grammy winning artist in his own right. He has released two albums as a leader (Moments Preserved, 2018; and Aria, 2015) to critical acclaim, and he’s only just getting started. Originally from New Orleans, Fortner is now based in New York and has earned recognition in multiple DownBeat Critics Poll categories, winning first place in Rising Star Piano and Rising Star Jazz Artist. In addition to associations with such diverse artists as Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Diane Reeves, Etienne Charles and John Scofield, Fortner’s frequent and longtime collaborators have included Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stefon Harris, Peter Bernstein, Billy Hart, Fred Hersch, the late Roy Hargrove and many others. Whether playing solo or leading an orchestra, Fortner “engages harmony and rhythmic ideas through curiosity and clarity. Within phrases, he finds universes, and listeners often hear how he’s moved by each note he explores. Pulling distinct elements from different eras, his artistry preserves the tradition and evolves the sound. He seeks connections among different musical styles that are at once deeply soulful and wildly inventive.” Fortner has been the recipient of many honors, including the 2015 Cole Porter Fellowship awarded by the American Pianists Association, the 2016 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, and, in 2020, the prestigious Shifting Foundation Grant for artistic career development. Accompanying Sullivan Fortner will be Tyrone Allen, bass & Kayvon Gordon, drums.
Sullivan Fortner Trio will also be performing a NMJF affiliated event with the Santa Fe Music Collective at SITE Santa Fe on Thursday, September 28 and with the Taos Jazz Bebop Society on Friday September 29.