Another new album featuring bassist Peter Washington – see yesterday’s review of Jim Snidero’s Bird Feathers – this time a trio album led by pianist Sullivan Fortner.
This live album takes its name from New Orleans icon Allen Toussaint’s 1975 classic Southern Nights, a song that’s been covered in vocals versions in recent years by such contrastive voices as Lizz Wright and Irish based country star the Liverpudlian Nathan Carter. It was Toussaint’s musical picture of evenings spent with his Creole family in Louisiana later covered by country singer Glen Campbell who had a hit version of it a few years later.
The trio is completed by Marcus Gilmore best known for his work with Vijay Iyer. Fortner is a very different pianist to the far more abstract Iyer and the style here is instead swinging, middle of the road perhaps to some, but full of a consummate ease and easy even Oscar Petersonian grace. Certainly Fortner’s chops are in the stellar bracket and make a comparison with mega pianists like the never understated Peterson or Monty Alexander valid.
Recorded during a weeklong residency at New York’s Village Vanguard jazz club in July 2023 Cole Porter’s I Love You and Clifford Brown’s Daahoud are among the pieces. I liked Fortner’s own piece 9 Bar Tune best of all.
Fortner, 38, hails from New Orleans so playing a Toussaint classic makes a lot of sense. He attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and later graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. Earlier in his career he was a member of vibraphonist Stefon Harris’ band and was Roy Hargrove’s pianist for some 7 years.
I liked the album and appreciated Fortner’s swinging style and sheer positivity. But I can’t get too enthused, hand on heart. Maybe it’s because his earlier album from 2023 Solo Game did more for me and the mix here is too wide ranging so it’s hard to get a fix on a central thread to what he’s about whereas it was easier to on the earlier album. Both albums however share Fortner’s choice of Stevie Wonder’s Don’t You Worry About A Thing as one of the songs in common. It’s a no worries, no hurry, kind of approach that wins me over in the end.
- Fortner is over playing Ronnie Scott’s with his different touring trio on 5 March.
MORE FROM MARLBANK – READ A REVIEW OF THE BILLY HART QUARTET’S NEW ALBUM – OUR FEBRUARY ALBUM OF THE MONTH – JUST
