SULLIVAN FORTNER, PIANO: THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK at University of Chicago

APRIL 30 - MAY 2 | $15 | ONLINE

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 at Steinway NYC 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.