Sullivan Fortner is a pianist, composer and bandleader whose music moves between deep jazz tradition and an irrepressibly exploratory musical imagination. A New Orleans native known for his command of harmony, rhythm and improvisation, Fortner has emerged as one of the defining pianistic voices of his generation, equally distinctive as a solo artist, ensemble leader and collaborator.

His recent work captures the breadth of that musical identity. Following Aria (2015) and Moments Preserved (2018), Fortner released the expansive Solo Game in 2023, an investigation of the possibilities of solo performance that moved beyond acoustic piano to incorporate organ, percussion, electronics, voice and other instruments. Southern Nights followed in 2025, bringing Fortner together with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Marcus Gilmore in a recording deeply connected to his New Orleans roots. The album won the 2026 GRAMMY Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album and followed his February 2025 appearance on the cover of DownBeat.

Fortner's work as a collaborator has been equally significant. His longstanding musical relationship with vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant has produced some of contemporary jazz's most acclaimed recordings, including The Window, winner of the 2019 GRAMMY Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. In 2025, Fortner earned another GRAMMY, this time for Best Jazz Performance with Samara Joy on “Twinkle Twinkle Little Me.”

Across his career he has performed and recorded with artists including Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, John Scofield, Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stefon Harris, Fred Hersch, Chief Adjuah and the late Roy Hargrove.

Fortner began playing piano at seven in New Orleans, growing within a musical culture in which rhythm, improvisation, blues and individual expression remain inseparable.

He later earned his Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory and a Master of Music in Jazz Performance from Manhattan School of Music. That combination of lineage and rigorous study continues to inform a musical language that respects tradition without treating it as fixed.

Whether working with a trio, accompanying a vocalist, performing solo or expanding the piano through electronics and other sound sources, Fortner approaches music as an active field of discovery.

That exploratory impulse is particularly apparent in Solo Game, where Fortner works alone in the studio while extending his musical vocabulary far beyond the conventional boundaries of solo piano.

Fortner's curiosity extends naturally to his work as an educator and mentor. He has taught and presented masterclasses at institutions including Manhattan School of Music, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Purdue University, Belmont University and Oberlin Conservatory, where he has served on the faculty and returned as visiting professor of jazz piano.

His relationship to the music is rooted not simply in technical command, but in sustained engagement with its history, language and evolving possibilities.