Fournier was born in
New Orleans,
Louisiana, into a
Creole family. He left college to join a big band led by
King Kolax. After Kolax downsized to a quintet, Fournier moved to
Chicago in 1948, where he played with such musicians as
Buster Bennett,
Paul Bascomb and
Teddy Wilson. As house drummer at the Bee Hive club on Chicago's South Side in 1953–55, he accompanied many visiting soloists, including
Lester Young,
Ben Webster,
Sonny Stitt,
J.J. Johnson,
Earl Washington and
Stan Getz. He worked with
Nancy Wilson,
Clifford Jordan,
Billy Eckstine and
Joe Williams,
John Lewis and
Barry Harris. Fournier was also a teacher of drumming, working at Barry Harris's Jazz Cultural Theater, the
New School, and the
Mannes College of Music. A
stroke in 1994 left him unable to use his legs and confined him to a wheelchair. Although he was unable to play drums professionally after his stroke, he continued his teaching activities. He died from a
cerebral hemorrhage in
Jackson, Mississippi, in 2000. ==Discography==