SULLIVAN FORTNER
For the past decade, Sullivan Fortner has been stretching deep-rooted talents as a pianist, composer, band leader and uncompromising individualist. The Grammy Award-winning artist out of New Orleans received international praise as both key player and producer for his collaborative work on The Window (Mack Avenue, 2018), alongside multi-Grammy winner, vocalist-composer Cecile McLorin Salvant. As a solo leader, he has released Moments Preserved (Decca, 2018) and Aria (Impulse!, 2015) to critical acclaim, and he’s only getting started. Now based in New York, Fortner has earned recognition in multiple DownBeat Critics Poll categories, winning first place in Rising Star Piano and Rising Star Jazz Artist.
In addition to associations with such diverse voices as Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Diane Reeves, Etienne Charles and John Scofield, Fortner’s frequent and longtime collaborators have included Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stefon Harris, Kassa Overall, Tivon Pennicott, Peter Bernstein, Nicholas Payton, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Fred Hersch and the late Roy Hargrove. Recent collaborations include GRAMMY-nominated releases Dear Love (Empress Legacy) and Generations from leaders Jazzmeia Horn and The Baylor Project, respectively.
A highly-sought improviser, Fortner has performed across the country and throughout the world at such cultural institutions as Snug Harbor, New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Lorraine’s and The Jazz Playhouse in New Orleans, and Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazz Standard and Smalls Jazz Club in New York City. He’s appeared at celebrated festivals, including Newport, Monterey, Discover, Tri-C and Gillmore Keyboard, among others. In 2019, Fortner brought his band to the historic Village Vanguard for a week-long engagement he would reprise in 2020 as a virtual performance during lockdown. His notable studio contributions include work on Etienne Charles’s Kaiso (Culture Shock, 2011), Donald Harrison’s Quantum Leap (FOMP, 2010), and Theo Croker’s The Fundamentals (Left Sided Music, 2007).
The Trio: Sullivan Fortner~Piano, Yasushi Nakamura ~ bass and Kayvon Gordon ~ drums
Tickets: $37.00 fee included
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THE HEADHUNTERS
The Headhunters, the legendary jazz-funk ensemble co-led by percussionist Bill Summers and drummer Mike Clark with NEA Jazz Master Donald Harrison on alto saxophone, celebrated the band’s 50th anniversary in 2023, having formed around Herbie Hancock’s classic recordings, Head Hunters, in 1973, Thrust in 1974 and Man-Child in 1975. The band continued without Mr. Hancock and has released 8 albums under the Headhunters name starting with Survival of the Fittest in 1975 and on Straight from the Gate in 1977 (featuring the smash hit “God Make Me Funky” sampled on over 350 hip hop and pop songs), and most recently Speakers In the House in 2022 and Live From Brooklyn Bowl in 2023. The band’s new album The Stunt Man comes out October 11th, 2024 on Ropeadope recorded at the legendary Hyde Street Studios.
Few bands can boast a history as fortuitous and storied as The Headhunters. What each member brings to the table forged a history that most bands can only dream of. Their blend of jazz with funk and rock would go on to sell over a million albums worldwide, while the band’s legacy would inspire musicians of every genre for years to come, be sampled by hundreds of hip-hop artists throughout the ’80s and ’90s, and influence countless musicians’ playing today. The Headhunters’ impact remains a global phenomenon, and their time with Hancock proved to be a life changing experience.
Bill Summers – percussion
Mike Clark – drums
Donald Harrison – saxophone
Chris Severin – bass
Kyle Roussel – piano
Cover Chaege: $25.00 – $50.00 + $3.50 fee
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JOHN CRANFORD & ALICE GOULD
Junior Jazz Rising Star Alice Gould is a fiddler, vocalist & songwriter from Savannah, Georgia who began her big stage performances at 5, participating in her first Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival. She was chosen as an Acoustic Kids Ambassador and has performed at Merlefest or Walnut Valley each year since.
Alice has competed in fiddle contests from CO to NC winning multiple awards. Alice was chosen as the Junior Jazz Rising Star and will be the first 2024 Strings intern at Hilton Head Jazz Camp. She regularly performs in the Low Country as a soloist, in a rock duo, jazz and classical violinist, and in many bluegrass groups.
Tickets: $20.00 | Only a few seats left.
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DE’SEAN JONES TRIO
De’Sean Jones is a Detroit based saxophonist, billboard charting recording artist and grammy nominated arranger. Over the past 20 years De’Sean has toured the world recording or performing with music Icons like Stevie Wonder, Faith Evans, along with a host of Detroit Legends; Marcus Belgrave, The Clark Sisters, Kierra Sheard and techno pioneer Mad Mike Banks of Underground Resistance.
As a bandleader & producer Jones has curated an eclectic approach that is widely viewed as progressive and undeniably rooted in the rich history of black culture. De’Sean actively pushes the boundaries of social consciousness through music in ways that are authentic, emotionally dynamic and intellectually stimulating.
Tickets: $25.00
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VANESSA RUBIN
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