Going by this album, Fortner is probably one of the most original piano stylists currently gracing the scene.
Recorded after a week's engagement at the Village Vanguard in NYC it seemed a natural progression for the trio to take their collaboration into the studio where they laid down nine diverse tracks.
Southern Nights: New Orleans' legend Allen Toussaint composed the title track and Fortner, who also has a Louisiana heritage, easily related to the mood. His style is original and takes time to absorb. It's a bit like when, as a youngster, you have your first taste of beer, furtively smoke your first cigarette after school, or hear Monk for the first time. Things that take time to grow upon you.
By the time I'd reached Woody Shaw's Organ Grinder, unlike smoking, Fortner's playing, like Monk's, had most definitely grown on me!
In between, Cole Porter's I Love You had me still coming to terms with the music. One thing was certain, this was not your average pianist. Imagine if Keith Jarrett, Monk and Jelly Roll Morton had combined to form an unholy trinity... Unusual voicings and the swing that was there but had eluded me was beginning to emerge. Gilmore solos and he too is quite individualistic.
9 Bar Tune does what it says on the tin. Going by the title it didn't take much thought to guess that this would be a Fortner original and it was. Again Gilmore pops his head above the parapets and fires off a few shots that do away with some of the infidels. Tres Palabras features an agile bass solo over a Spanish rhythm with some perky piano punctuations.
Waltz for Monk. Like the inevitability of Stanley meeting Livingstone or Darby meeting Joan so Fortner and Thelonious finally meet up via this Donald Brown composition. By this time I'm totally hooked and Sullivan Fortner is now my man!
Again, Never, a title I felt should have had a question mark and then an exclamation mark after each word viz: Again? Never!. However, that would have ran contrary to the mood of Bill Lee's composition which is a beautiful, explorative ballad.
Discovery swings gently, Fortner's unique harmonies a rich blend that results in the perfection so many pianists seek but don't always find. A discovery for me too.
Daahoud: Clifford Brown's classic is given the post-bop treatment that both the tune and the composer deserve.
Organ Grinder. Nothing more to say. I'm converted from doubter to devotee. It hits the virtual streets in February but, already the online hucksters are taking pre-orders at 'special prices'. You know who they are, flush 'em out! Lance
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