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Leave That In There is coming out August 28th, 2026 on Artwork Records! Listen to the first tracks ‘Que Diablos’ and ‘Number 3’ now.
Three-time GRAMMY Award-winning pianist Sullivan Fortner returns with Leave That In There, a new trio album that finds him at a peak of his creativity and artistic ambition. Following the success of Southern Nights, which earned the 2025 GRAMMY Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Sullivan Fortner delivers his most personal work to date. Recorded with his long-standing trio featuring bassist Tyrone Allen II and drummer Kayvon Gordon, Leave That In There draws together memories, family histories, and spiritual traditions that have shaped his artistic journey. Praised by Robert Glasper as “a masterclass in history and a glimpse of the future,” the album reflects Sullivan Fortner’s unique ability to bridge tradition and innovation by expanding the possibilities of the piano trio through a bold combination of acoustic instrumentation, analog synthesizers, marimba, and Bàtá drumming. Leave That In There becomes a space of dialogue, memory, tension, humor, and invention. The result is a bold artistic statement from one of the defining pianists of his generation, an album that broadens the language of contemporary jazz while looking simultaneously to its past and future.
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For more than a decade, Sullivan Fortner has been stretching his deep-rooted talents as a pianist, composer, band leader, and uncompromising individualist. The GRAMMY Award-winning artist and recipient of the 2026 Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award has garnered international praise as a leader and a fierce collaborator. In 2026, Fortner earned the Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album with his trio album Southern Nights and was named Piano Player of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association. Pulling distinct elements from different eras, Fortner’s artistry preserves the tradition and evolves the sound. The New Orleans native has worked with Wynton Marsalis, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Paul Simon, Diane Reeves, John Scofield, Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kassa Overall, Nicholas Payton, Chief Adjuah and Roy Hargrove. Fortner has appeared at acclaimed festivals around the world including the North Sea Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Discover, Big Ears and the Gilmore Piano Festival among many others. Both Fortner's works and his insights have been featured in culture drivers from The New York Times to The Root.
100% Sullivan Fortner
https://www.instagram.com/sullivanfortnerjr/
https://www.facebook.com/sullivanfortnermusic/
https://www.tiktok.com/@sullivanfortner
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRzuxR0TjjUOdwPNwZ7BQJw
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2kQZjl1wnD42U6rKhAHmz5
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sullivan-fortner/304988962
https://www.bandsintown.com/a/944617-sullivan-fortner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y7lDAC-7dI
⇩ Au bord de l'eau (ConcertLab)
“His fundamentals as a player could hardly be stronger, and his instincts as a composer and bandleader are almost startlingly mature.” - The New York Times
“Fortner beautifully, slowly and deliberately asks the eternal question of the essence of love — his notes dance, come to a halt and resume the twirls.” - OffBeat Magazine
“He is a spiritually thematic soul, alone in the studio he plays his concerns into the music. What we hear is a musician seeking safety in the studio, using every tool nearby to create a forcefield protecting him from a threatening environment and in this chamber, we hear a world emerge.” - Jason Moran
“Fortner [displays] an ease of expression that stems from a longtime commitment to the music.” - DownBeat