Jazz Articles about Sullivan Fortner

About Sullivan Fortner

Radio & Podcasts

Sullivan Fortner: The Music Tells You Where to Go

by Leo Sidran
September 16, 2026

It is hard to overstate the exuberance and awe expressed by other musicians when talking about Sullivan Fortner. At under 40 years old, he is one of a small handful of pianists who have moved the instrument and its potential forward. And by doing so, he's demonstrated that innovation can happen from within the tradition of what came before rather than reinventing it outright. To those who know, he is both a living reality and, as a jazz ...

Radio & Podcasts

New Sullivan Fortner Also Trumpeter Matt White's Jazz Perspective on Dolly Parton Songs, Flautist Ali Ryerson, Pianist Enoch Smith Jr. and Matt Wilson's Good Trouble featuring Tia Fuller

by Hobart Taylor
September 2, 2026

Also outstanding tuneage from guitarists Sheryl Bailey and Ed Cherry, saxophonist Jonathon Suazo, and a delightful Susan Alcorn cut featuring Mary Halvorson.Playlist Host Speaks 00:00 Matt White “The Carroll County Accident (featuring Liz Kelley)" from Dolly (Adhyaropa) 01:35 Matt White “The Bridge (featuring Liz Kelley)" from Dolly (Adhyaropa) 05:05 Enoch Smith Jr. “No One Can Save You" fromThis is What Love Does (Misfitme) 09:42 Host Speaks 15:00 The Ali Ryerson Quartet “Chuck's Tune/Solar" from The Ali Ryerson Quartet ...

Album Review

Sullivan Fortner: Leave That In There

Read "Leave That In There" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
August 28, 2026

Sullivan Fortner has never been an artist short on ideas. But Leave That In There feels different. It is the sound of a musician who has distilled everything he has absorbed from his deep well of Gulf South upbringing, from the piano giants and from spirituals and street parades, into his own language. It is easily his most personal record to date, a musical scrapbook of memories, ancestry, humour, grief, and resilience. The title draws on Spike Lee's ...

Radio & Podcasts

Sullivan Fortner, Jim Rotondi & Dena DeRose, Ardeshir, Christian Wiggs & His Orchestra and more

by Benjamin Boddie
August 27, 2026

Today's Music--Right Now! Fantastic music by Donald Vega, Skinny Hightower, Zaccai Curtis, Kay Kostopoulos, Sullivan Fortner, Jun Iida, Andrew Kim, Jim Rotondi & Dena DeRose, Brothers--Nevala--Aucoin, Alternative Guitar Summit, Emmet Cohen, Conrad Herwig, Ardeshir, Christian Wiggs & His Orchestra, John Clayton, Brad Goode Quintet, Miki Yamanaka, Nicole Zuraitis, Rick Braun, Elias Haslanger, Paul Yonemura, Gabriel Mark Hasselbach, Brent Birckhead, Robyn Spangler, Amber Weekes, Antonio Adolfo, Jim Donica Quintet, Anthony Caceres, Carlos Henriquez, Lou Marini And The Italian Groovers, John Pachnos, ...

Album Review

Sullivan Fortner: Leave That In There

Read "Leave That In There" reviewed by Andrew Schinder

by Andrew Schinder
July 17, 2026

Pianist Sullivan Fortner is on a roll. Already one of the most respected contemporary jazz pianists, Fortner leveled up in 2025 with the Grammy-winning Southern Nights (Artwork Records, 2025), a tribute to his New Orleans heritage that was a critical and commercial smash. Along with the collaboration albums Wildflowers Vol. 1 (Edition Records, 2024) (with vocalist Kurt Elling) and Play (ACT Music, 2025) (with trumpeter Theo Croker) and playing to packed houses both as a leader and accompanist, the year was an unqualified success. ...

Interview

Sullivan Fortner: Nothing's Ever Finished

by Andrew Schinder
July 9, 2026

Modern jazz musicians are often faced with the impossible, and frankly unfair, task of honoring the music's history and traditions while adding modern elements and contemporary facets to make a 125-year-old musical genre sound fresh. This burden falls even more acutely on musicians hailing from, or who are particularly associated with, the City of New Orleans. New Orleans is celebrated as the birthplace of jazz, but its ongoing connection to the music is complicated. Cities such as New York and ...

Album Review

Ben Wolfe: Any Time After Now

Read "Any Time After Now" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
June 3, 2026

In this recording by bassist, composer and bandleader Ben Wolfe, titled Any Time After Now, there is a quiet assurance, with nothing straining for effect or feeling manufactured. Recorded in a single studio day alongside vibraphonist Joel Ross, pianist Sullivan Fortner, tenor saxophonist Chris Lewis and drummer Aaron Kimmel, the album spans ten tracks of original Wolfe compositions and exhibits a natural cohesion that reflects musicians deeply attuned to one another. The opener, “Any Time After Now," swings ...