Concert Stream – Sullivan Fortner, piano: The Great American Songbook

Sullivan Fortner sitting in front of a brown upright piano, wearing a grey vest and pants, white shirt, and red tie

April 30, 2021 | 7:00PM
Online

$15 | Free for UChicago Students

This concert premieres at 7 pm CDT on Friday, April 30 and will be available until 11:59 pm CDT on Sunday, May 2.

 

A longtime collaborator of the late Roy Hargrove, pianist and New Orleans native Sullivan Fortner is one of those rare musicians who simultaneously preserves tradition and evolves the sound. Whether a bandleader or sideman, in small combos or with a whole orchestra, Fortner engages harmony and rhythmic ideas through curiosity and clarity, bringing a freshness to standards and ingenuity to his original compositions.

In a special streaming performance recorded during the 2020 COVID pandemic, Fortner matches nostalgia with a hunger for progress, pairing his own original works with classic selections from the Great American Songbook.