Sullivan Fortner: Solo Game

Mentored by Fred Hersch and Jason Moran, and produced by Hersch, Solo Game puts pianist Sullivan Fortner in a really good place. That is before the music even starts. Then it does start with a sly and subdued solo on Stevie Wonder's buoyant 1973 top tenner, "Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing," while dropping subtle hints to the trip ahead, forged by Fortner's quixotic self.

Fortner, who has steadily grown a discography which includes his own quartet recording Aria (Impulse!, 2015), a seven year stint with Roy Hargrove, and choice sessions with Paul Simon, Cecile McLorin Salvant (who adds her ethereal magic to the "Tubular Bells" like "Snakes and Ladders"), and Melissa Aldana just to name a few. With his perfect pitch and classic stride approach, the pianist has a long and illustrious career ahead of him.

An autumnally seasoned approach to Richard Rodgers' "I Didn't Know What Time it Was" belies Fortner's age. There is a clear sense of yearning yet knowing the years reveal as they will. Hersch's production is pristine, throwing light on Fortner's clearly articulated vision—a new and most assured take on things of beauty over convenience, things with eternal presence.

The pianist does what all great artists, innovators, and true creators (not Tik Tok spin offs) do; they challenge themselves and rise well above said challenge. So, Randy Weston's "Congolese Children" sounds fully conceived and of a piece, as does Antonio Carlos Jobim's luscious "Once I Loved." Fortner is so aware of those who have mastered the keys before him that, by the time we get to singularly malleable romps through Neil Hefti's bouncing "Cute" and Kurt Weill's neo-ragtime "This Is New," visions of Art Tatum and Bud Powell are dancing in our heads.

These solo ventures can get over-wrought at times—think of young Keith Jarrett's one man Restoration Ruin (Vortex, 1968)—but Solo Game for the greater part avoids those youthful pratfalls. Though it does have its wrought moments, such as "It's A Game"—the second track on Disc Two—it runs a bit too long, predictably. Here the pianist takes on a host of instruments including vibes, celeste, chime tree, Moog, Vocoder, Rain Maker, Hammond B3, and egg shaker. Fully composed by Fortner, the brooding Shaft-like undertow "Snakes and Ladders" falls victim to, once again, its length. "Hounds and Jackals" on the other hand, is too short. "Space Walk " is. well, the new generation watching 2001: A Space Odyssey. But, given the gravity and the gravitas of Solo Game, this is really nitpicking. These two discs are beyond question worth the time it takes to get pulled into their gracious and sustainable orbit.

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