One of the most in-demand sideman in today’s music scene, pianist Sullivan Fortner is likewise building up an impressive catalogue of his own. His most recent release, his first in a handful of years, has him in solo format for the first time, but this isn’t your typical “solo” album, as the two disc set shows a wide palate of sounds that Fortner is able to create a wide variety of moods. The first disc has him on piano, but the second place him in a musical laboratory, as Fortner mixes and matches Moog, shakers, Mongolian Gong, vibes, celeste and vocoder, to name a handful.
His solo piano work has him producing some wondrous ideas, holding onto traditional stride on a fun read of Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry About A Thing”, while producing soft Debussy-esque chimes on “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was”. There are dark probing with the left hand for “Congolese Children” and a reverent and glowing “Come Sunday” flickers like a church candle.
Fornter does some wild dynamics with a wild ride collection of sounds with something akin to a prepared piano on “Power Mode” and produces tropical funk grooves on a playful “It’s A Game”. Cecile McLorin Salvant, of whom Fornter partners with on many occasion, returns the favor for a mix of voice, piano and effects on “Snakes and Ladders”. A pre-swing fingering of the ivories sounds like a spinning 78 rpm on “Stag” and a collection of plugged in instruments go intergalactic on a lunar “Space Walk”. Fortner turns ivories into a kaleidoscope this time out.