Sullivan Fortner

About

Sullivan Fortner is an American jazz musician and composer. Born and raised in New Orleans, he started learning to play the piano at age four. He graduated to playing the church organ by the seven and at 13, enrolled at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. A star pupil, he went on to study at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and later the Manhattan School of Music. Over the years, Fortner has played and recorded with big names like Stefon Harris, Roy Hargrove and Justin Robinson, among others. In 2015, he won the American Pianists Association Cole Porter Fellowship in Jazz. That same year he released his first album, Aria. Some of his top tracks include "In a Sentimental Mood," "Beans and Cornbread" and "When I'm Sixty-Four."