Released in 2015 by the label Impulse!, Aria was an impressive first album for Sullivan Fortner. After making a name for himself as the designated pianist for Roy Hargrove, Stefon Harris and Christian Scott, the New Orleans native played a classical, yet not anecdotal card. Quite the contrary in fact. His technique was already formidable, his influences (Thelonious Monk, Herbie Nichols) perfectly assimilated, his writing (five of the album’s ten compositions) impeccably on point, but more than anything, it was the characteristic DNA of New Orleans that transpired through his fingers. Three years later, the aesthete impresses even more with his Moments Preserved produced in collaboration with bass player Ameen Saleem and drummer Jeremy 'Bean' Clemmons. Sullivan Fortner is no old timer, but a master like you don’t see anymore. Much like the late Mulgrew Miller, his piano combines a toppling technique with a musicality of exquisite taste. No time for smokescreens. With Fortner, everything is refinement, elegance and an acute sense of conversation with his accomplices, including his ex-boss and trumpeter Roy Hargrove on three tracks. Moments Preserved is an unadulterated jazz album. No artificial colours to go with the zeitgeist! Timeless music like only the greatest musicians can produce. Even when he covers Earth, Wind & Fire’s Fantasy, Sullivan Fortner fully makes this massive hit his own, rendering it unrecognizable! Astounding. © Max Dembo/Qobuz