Sullivan Fortner Turns Katrina Trauma Into Jazz Manifesto
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- Sullivan Fortner released his sixth album 'Leave That in There,' taking its title from a moment in Spike Lee's 'When the Levees Broke' documentary where a woman, told she left her purse behind, tersely replies 'Leave that in there' — Fortner reframes the line as a manifesto against self-censorship.
- Fortner, a three-time Grammy winner including for 2025's 'Southern Nights,' received the Larry J Bell award — a $300,000 (£225,000) prize given every four years to a standout jazz pianist — which gave him the confidence to abandon multi-take editing ('I took an edible and said, screw it').
- Fortner was 18 and studying at Ohio's Oberlin Conservatory when Katrina hit; watching CNN he saw his girlfriend and her mother waiting for buses outside the Convention Center, and a five-second phone call from his sister confirmed his family had evacuated to Baton Rouge.
- Two album tracks, 'A Poignant Time' and 'Another Poignant Time,' take their cue from a Wynton Marsalis quote in the documentary: 'I think that this is a great moment in American history, because in this moment we see a lot of what's wrong with us.'
- Fortner attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts alongside Chief Adjuah, Trombone Shorty and Jon Batiste; a formative moment at age 11 came when local organist Ronald Markham demonstrated Bach and Latin music, opening him to genres beyond gospel.
- Fortner studied with pianist Fred Hersch while in Roy Hargrove's band — Hersch's insistence on intuition over preparation ('Just play something for me') now defines Fortner's loose, unedited work, including rough duet recordings with singer Cécile McLorin Salvant posted to social media.
Why it matters: Fortner's most raw, unedited record arrives after a $300,000 prize and a third Grammy gave him the financial and artistic freedom to abandon self-editing — making the album a referendum on whether commercial success enables or threatens artistic spontaneity in jazz. The Katrina framing, drawn from Spike Lee's documentary, also keeps public attention on New Orleanians still dealing with displacement, denied insurance claims and mental health fallout two decades later.
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