Sullivan Fortner

Long before he was a three-time Grammy winner, Sullivan Fortner was a child in New Orleans watching a woman play organ in a local church. He started on piano at four and was at the organ of a Baptist church by seven, where his mother directed the choir. Perfect pitch carried him for a while, until an audition for the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts pushed him toward a more formal grounding, which he extended at Oberlin Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music.

His early reputation was built in other people's bands. In 2009 he toured Europe with vibraphonist Stefon Harris, and from 2010 to 2017 he was the pianist in trumpeter Roy Hargrove's quintet. In 2015 he won the American Piano Awards Cole Porter Fellowship in Jazz, a prize of $50,000 and the chance to record for Mack Avenue. His debut as leader, Aria, on Impulse! Records, drew a four-star review from DownBeat, and Moments Preserved followed as a largely trio record. He has also played on Paul Simon's In the Blue Light, and at the 2026 Grammys he won Best Jazz Instrumental Album for Southern Nights.