Sullivan Fortner, the acclaimed pianist-composer, has won the GRAMMY® Award for ‘Best Jazz Instrumental Album’ for Southern Nights at the 68th GRAMMY® Awards on February 1, 2026. Released on February 14, 2025 via Artwork Records, Southern Nights showcases Fortner’s artistry at its peak, in the company of the great Peter Washington on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums. This award represents Fortner’s third career GRAMMY® win and his fifth nomination.

Unable to attend the ceremony, Fortner shared his gratitude via social media: “What an amazing surprise this is,” he reflected. “Thank you all so much. All praise and glory first go to God for the gift of music, the gift of creating it, and the gift of being able to share it with people. To Marcus Gilmore and Peter Washington, you are amazing. Thank you so very, very much. I’m so honored to share this award with you.”

Recorded during an unforgettable weeklong residency at New York’s iconic Village Vanguard in the summer of 2023, the album was tracked live in the studio with no isolation, edits, or retakes, channeling the immediacy, spontaneity, and electricity of the trio’s Vanguard performances. Its wide-ranging repertoire includes works by Allen Toussaint and Clifford Brown; tributes to Fortner’s late mentor Bill Lee and Lee’s sister, educator Consuela Lee; and an original composition from Fortner himself.

Southern Nights has received universal acclaim from critics and music lovers alike. “It is a wonderful document of one of our true rising stars on the piano and a trio that refines its presentation with each live performance,” wrote Frank Alkyer of DownBeat Magazine. Alyn Shipton of Jazzwise called it “an enthralling listen from a trio at the top of its game,” while critic Peter Margasak praised it as “a master class that celebrates jazz’s essence; invention and reinvention rather than glib mastery.”

The album has also been featured on numerous year-end best-of lists, including DownBeat, Slate, All Music, WRTI, Nate Chinen’s The Gig, and All About Jazz, cementing its place as one of 2025’s most celebrated jazz recordings.

Fortner’s remarkable career includes previous GRAMMY® wins for The Window, his duo album with Cécile McLorin Salvant (2018), and for Best Jazz Performance for “Twinkle Twinkle Little Me” on Samara Joy’s A Joyful Holiday (2023). Recently, he became the inaugural recipient of the Gilmore Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award.

In his social media statement, Fortner expressed gratitude to his family, team, label partners, his fellow nominees, and the jazz community, saying: “To the entire jazz community, both listeners and performers at large, thank you all for being an inspiration and a support. Let’s continue in the lineage and in the spirit of our masters, and let’s continue to be stewards of this music.”

Details on Sullivan’s new album, a follow-up to Southern Nights expected in late summer, will be announced soon.

Photos by Dasha Dare