Jazz Series: Sullivan Fortner Trio

For more than a decade, Sullivan Fortner has been stretching his deep-rooted talents as a pianist, composer, bandleader, and uncompromising individualist. The GRAMMY Award-winning artist and recipient of the 2026 Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award has garnered international praise as both a commanding leader and a fierce collaborator. Most recently, he received the 2026 GRAMMY Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for Southern Nights. He previously earned the 2025 GRAMMY Award for Best Jazz Performance for Samara Joy's "Twinkle Twinkle Little Me," and the 2019 GRAMMY Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album alongside Cecile McLorin Salvant for her acclaimed album The Window, on which he served as both key player and producer. Fortner has also received GRAMMY nominations for his 2023 release Solo Game and for his provocative arrangement of "Optimistic Voices/No Love Dying" from Salvant's 2022 release Ghost Song. 

As a solo leader he has issued Aria (2015); Moments Preserved (2018); Solo Game (2024), which earned 4-star reviews in DownBeat and France's Telerama Magazine; and Southern Nights (2025) which landed Fortner on the February cover of DownBeat. Winner of the 2024 DownBeat Critics Poll for Rising Star Jazz Group: Sullivan Fortner Trio, the prolific artist has enjoyed creative associations with Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Diane Reeves, Etienne Charles and John Scofield; his longtime collaborators have included Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stefon Harris, Kassa Overall, Tivon Pennicott, Peter Bernstein, Nicholas Payton, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, Chief Adjuah, and the late Roy Hargrove.