Sullivan Fortner shook his head, with a self-deprecating grin, as he shuffled from center stage toward a Steinway at the Greene Space in New York on Wednesday night. He’d just officially been named the first-ever recipient of the Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award: an accolade bestowed by The Gilmore, as a counterpart to its illustrious classical piano honors. Fortner seemed almost abashed by the hoopla, eager to find his familiar perch at the piano.
There he promptly demonstrated the exceptional qualities — an unmannered rhythmic buoyancy, a sensitivity of touch and tone, a feeling of dawning discovery around every bend — that earned him the prestigious honor. With it comes a prize of $300,000: the largest gift ever reserved for an individual jazz artist.
Fortner, 38, may be the closest thing to a consensus favorite for the inaugural Bell Award, which will be presented every four years. He has earned the endorsement of other noted pianists, including two former teachers, Fred Hersch and Jason Moran. He has won two Grammy awards for his work with singers: Cécile McLorin Salvant, a close creative partner, and Samara Joy, a newer collaborator. Fortner was also nominated for a duo EP with another vocalist, Kurt Elling, as well as his own 2023 album, Solo Game.
Perhaps most germane is the fact that Fortner has already received a major award in his field: the Cole Porter Fellowship, presented by the American Pianists Association. He won the award in 2015, and has since served on the jury, an experience he described in a 2023 episode of Jazz Night in America.
But if Fortner has grown accustomed to accolades, he does a good job of hiding it. During a brief Q&A at Wednesday’s event, he was asked by Mark Ruffin, the program director for Real Jazz at Sirius XM Satellite Radio, how he was feeling. Fortner chuckled first, and then offered a few bulleted emotions: “Overwhelmed. Surprised. Shocked. Kind of in disbelief.”
As with The Gilmore Artist Award, the process for the Bell Artist Award runs both wide and deep, all under a scrupulous veil of secrecy. The initial pool of candidates came from a nominating committee, composed of noted pianists and various industry professionals. (Full disclosure: I was among the nearly four dozen people who served.) The committee’s recommendations guided the next step in the process: a two-to-three year observation period for an anonymous Artistic Advisory Committee, whose members traveled the world to discreetly observe the candidates in performance. As noted in remarks by Larry J. Bell — namesake of the award, and a past president of the Board of Trustees at The Gilmore — the entire process is shrouded in secrecy.
Seth Abramson, the jazz director for The Gilmore, echoed that note about confidentiality, and thanked the Artistic Advisory Committee. In a statement, he declared Fortner “one of the most gifted artists I’ve ever encountered. His technique is effortless, his ear extraordinary, and his vision profound — but what makes him truly remarkable is the sheer joy that radiates from him when he plays.”
That joy was fully evident in the selections Fortner played at the ceremony, beginning with a New Orleans rag called “Grandpa’s Spells,” which Jelly Roll Morton first recorded in 1924. He followed this with an original reverie, “Snakes and Ladders,” whose style conveyed a flowing impressionism. Then came the Cuban bolero “Tres Palabras,” which Fortner recorded on his most recent album, the 2025 trio effort Southern Nights. Finally, after the onstage conversation, he offered a spellbinding reading of Thelonious Monk’s “‘Round Midnight,” spinning variations for a full nine minutes.
Along with the main event, The Gilmore has created a Larry J. Bell Young Jazz Artist Award, which went to two pianists from the New York / New Jersey area: Tyler Bullock and Esteban Castro. Each will receive a $25,000 stipend, and each was on hand at The Greene Space, joining Fortner in a three-man piano party on “Take the Coltrane,” a chipper blues from the album Duke Ellington & John Coltrane.
Fortner was all smiles as he watched the younger pianists swapping choruses. Then he joined them on the bench, solidifying a picture of collegiality that felt like a natural extension of his artistry. “As the first jazz pianist to ever receive an Artist Award from The Gilmore,” he says in a statement, “the significance and responsibility is enormous. In all that I do, I hope to represent Larry J. Bell and The Gilmore name well. This generous gift is a welcome reminder for me to create more music.”
For more information about the Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award, visit The Gilmore online.
