(Post-Bop) Sullivan Fortner - Moments Preserved - 2018, MP3, 320 kbps

Three years after the release of Sullivan Fortner’s charming Impulse! Records debut, Aria, the 31-year-old New Orleans-bred pianist and composer returns with his enchanting sophomore effort, Moments Preserved, which finds him leading a sterling trio with bassist Ameen Saleem and drummer Jeremy “Bean” Clemons. Produced by Grammy-winning Brian Bacchus, Moments Preserved arrived at the end of a productive recording period; Fortner participated on six recording sessions in less than two months. Nevertheless, he hails Moments Preserved as one of the “most honest and emotionally direct” albums he’s made yet. While gathering tunes for the album, he reflected on many key life moments that have occurred since winning the 2008 Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship and the 2015 Cole Porter Fellowship. Those moments include concluding his eight-year tenure in Roy Hargrove’s band then emerging as a bandleader.