Ambrose Akinmusire Sullivan Fortner (duo)

Ambrose Akinmusire  stands today as one of the most distinctive and visionary voices in contemporary jazz — a composer and trumpeter who continually seeks new expressions, new spaces, and new truths. His music moves between the intimate and the boldly exploratory, and as The New York Times writes, “Akinmusire has been making some of the most intimate, spellbinding music of his career … even in its simplicity, his trumpet can feel almost dangerously tender.” He combines poetic sensitivity with an unflinching response to the unrest of our time, creating music that Pitchfork describes as “seeking peace not just despite a world of unrest, but within it.”

Throughout his 15-year career, Akinmusire has positioned himself both at the center and the outer edges of jazz — in dialogue with classical music, hip-hop, and a wide range of artistic traditions. The Guardian calls him “a soloist who can shift gear from the warm and heart-tugging to the abstract and freaky within the same bar,” while the Boston Globe praises him as “one of the most gifted and socially conscious composers of his generation.”

This evening, he shares the stage with one of today’s most sought-after pianists: GRAMMY Award–winning artist Sullivan Fortner, whose deeply rooted musicianship and fearless individuality have made him a leading voice of his generation. A decade into his career, Fortner has earned international acclaim as a bandleader, collaborator, and improviser of exceptional depth. The New York Times highlights “his instincts as a composer and bandleader [that] are almost startlingly mature,” while OffBeat Magazine writes: “Fortner beautifully, slowly and deliberately asks the eternal question of the essence of love — his notes dance, come to a halt and resume the twirls.”

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Fortner has been a key collaborator for artists such as Cécile McLorin Salvant and Samara Joy, winning multiple GRAMMY Awards and earning widespread praise for albums including Aria, Moments Preserved, and Solo Game, the latter receiving 4-star reviews in both DownBeat and Télérama. Pianist Fred Hersch describes him as “one of the best pianists in the world today … fearless, masterful, and joyfully expressive.”

When Akinmusire and Fortner come together, they create a musical space where tradition and innovation merge — where silence and intensity hold equal weight, and where their extraordinary sensitivity to sound and form gives rise to something deeply human, deeply attentive, and impossible to replicate.

A rare opportunity to experience two of the most original musicians of our time in a shared, living musical universe.