Sullivan Fortner Trio

For the past decade, Sullivan Fortner has been stretching deep-rooted talents as a pianist, composer, band leader and uncompromising individualist. The GRAMMY Award-winning artist received international praise as both key player and producer for his collaborative work on The Window (Mack Avenue, 2018), alongside multi-GRAMMY winner, vocalist-composer Cecile McLorin Salvant, in 2017, marking his most recent, but not only, Jazz Series appearance. As a leader, he has released Moments Preserved (Decca, 2018) and Aria (Impulse!, 2015) to critical acclaim.This past year, Fortner earned recognition in multiple Downbeat Critics Poll categories, winning first place in "Rising Star" (Piano) and "Rising Star" overall "Jazz Artist."
  In addition to associations with such diverse voices 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, Nicholas Payton, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Fred Hersch and the late Roy Hargrove. The highly-sought improviser has performed across the country and around the world including concerts at celebrated festivals, such as Newport, Monterey, Discover, Tri-C and Gillmore Keyboard Festival, among others. 
   Yet another Crescent City native, Fortner earned his Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory and Master of Music in Jazz Performance from Manhattan School of Music (MSM), Fortner, like fellow pianist Emmet Cohen who appears this season in November, is a Cole Porter Fellowship Award winner, which is presented by the American Pianists Association.
   Sharing the bandstand with Fortner are veteran bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Kayvon Gordon.

Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022

"Sundays @ Murry's"

Murry's

Show 1 | Doors: 2:30 | Start: 3:30

Show 2 | Doors: 6 | Start: 7

Sullivan Fortner Trio

Sullivan Fortner: Piano
Tyrone Allen: Bass
Kayvon Gordon: Drums

“Fortner’s elegant turns of phrase evoke, without imitating.”

- DownBeat

“His styles are so wide-ranging that when he played “Weeping Willow” by Scott Joplin, he threw in rag, stride, and even a Brahmsian hemiola. He put such a spin on the rhythm that it seemed his right and left hands were playing independently – and yet, he kept the reins tight enough to shape the multiple styles into a cohesive whole.” 

- Philly Life & Culture


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