★★★★★
He may be one of smooth jazz's biggest stars now, but 20 years ago, keyboardist/trombonist Brian Culbertson was a student and aspiring musician at Chicago's DePaul University, recording demos for what would become his 1994 debut album, Long Night Out, in the bedroom of an apartment he shared with three roommates. Those demos earned Culbertson a record deal, and he subsequently built an enviable career as a popular and acclaimed performer, composer and producer...
- jazztimes.com
2014-04-28
★★★★★
Brian Culbertson | Another Long Night Out
BCM Entertainment, Inc.
by Brent Faulkner Advance Review - CD Coming Feb. 25th, 2014
In 1994 - then a 21 year-old DePaul student - Brian Culbertson recorded his smooth-jazz debut album, Long Night Out. A talented multi-instrumentalist and composer, Long Night Out would mark the beginning of an incredible career for Culbertson...
- reviews.theurbanmusicscene.com
2014-02-17
★★★★★
It must be liberating to be classified as a smooth or contemporary jazz artist these days. One the one hand, you have some artists making straight up early to mid 1970s style jazz/funk/rock fusion records. On the other hand, artists like Brian Culbertson move with audacity toward funk and R&B and even Go-Go music. That's the move that Culbertson makes on his 12th studio album - appropriately titled XII...
- www.soultracks.com
2010-12-07
★★★★★
Keyboardist extraordinaire Brian Culbertson has a style that is a mixture of inimitable funk and suave grooves. Growing up, Culbertson was heavily influenced by the work of Maynard Ferguson, Dave Sanborn, the Brecker Brothers, Blood Sweat & Tears, James Brown, and Earth Wind & Fire. Bringing Back the Funk (GRP Records, 2008) employs outstanding musicians to accompany him on the exploration of his funk music roots, many of whom were a part of the very acts that influenced him...
- www.allaboutjazz.com
2010-08-20
★★★★★
You kinda knew it was coming. This "down & dirty," collaborative mega-funk tribute just had to be in the works at some point, considering Brian Culbertson's fixation with funk of today's and particularly yesterday's variety. His oft-verbal accolades for Earth, Wind & Fire finally manifests itself in EWF founder Maurice White's grabbing the executive producer anointment on this project...
- www.jazzreview.com
2009-06-08
★★★★★
Making a path up and down the jazz scene nowadays continues to be a hit or miss proposition. With limited airplay available, coupled with fewer and fewer opportunities to hear jazz of any type, many connoisseurs often choose to take a chance and just dive into the fray of the unknown. Even that approach can be a daunting experience at various times in the midst of all the chaos; however, the one underlying factor continues to be jazz in all of its flavors...
- www.jazzreview.com
2009-06-08
★★★★★
Good CD? Well, let's see. First, we get a majestic and rather pompous intro to the classic "Joy to the World," then...wham! Enter the funkmeister, Brian Culbertson, with a novel funky and spiritual take on the tune. What can one say? This guy is as prolific as any in the business and climbs into the driver's seat without solicitation to take over the navigational duties of his distinctive sound and quality. Simply put, an artist in total control...
- www.jazzreview.com
2009-06-08
★★★★★
Many smooth jazz artists are leading double lives. On-stage, they conduct themselves like real improvisers; they stretch out, they blow, and they savor the joys of interacting with real musicians in real time. But their studio recordings are another matter. In the studio, they go out of their way to avoid the slightest hints of spontaneity and carefully avoid doing anything that might jeopardize their exposure on NAC/smooth jazz radio stations...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
The jazz world keeps so busy talking about the young lions on the straight-ahead side, it's easy to overlook the enormous potential of contemporary wunderkinds like keyboard whiz Brian Culbertson. The Chicago native's Long Night Out was one of last year's radio smashes, but he reaches even deeper into his vast melodic artistry for a unique perspective on Modern Life...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
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