Brian Culbertson began his musical journey at the age of 8 on piano, adding drums at 9, trombone at 10 then bass at 12. He grew up in Decatur, IL, loving genre-crossing jazz-pop artists such as Earth, Wind & Fire, Chicago, Tower of Power, The Brecker Brothers, David Sanborn, Yellowjackets and Chick Corea. So naturally gifted was Brian, his 7th grade piano recital consisted of all original tunes. Brian flourished in high school bands where his father, Jim Culbertson was the school’s internationally award-winning jazz band director, and moved to Chicago to complete his musical studies at DePaul University. He then went on to compose jingles for clients such as United Airlines, Gatorade, Sears and McDonald’s in the bustling city’s highly competitive advertising community. In 1994, at age 20, Brian self-produced his debut album, Long Night Out.
Since then, Brian has released twelve more albums, toured around the world, seen his name at the top of Billboard and radio charts, worked and performed with industry all-stars like Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire, Larry Graham, Michael McDonald, Chris Botti, Musiq Soulchild, Ledisi, Barry Manilow, Herb Alpert, Natalie Cole, Chuck Brown, and Bootsy Collins just to name a few, and received numerous awards including recently being nominated for a 2012 NAACP Image Award and a 2012 Soul Train Award.
Also in 2012, Brian founded the Napa Valley Jazz Getaway which is a 5-day celebration of wine, food, art and music set in California’s famous wine region. The inaugural event featured Sinbad, Oleta Adams, Kenny Lattimore, David Benoit, Eric Darius and many top wineries throughout Napa Valley including Silver Oak, Miner Family, Chimney Rock and others. June of 2013 will mark the 2nd annual event with more artists, more wineries and more events!
Regardless of his success, fans can be rest assured that with 13 albums and counting, Brian Culbertson always brings his very best – and brings the very best out of others – in all of his broad-ranging musical endeavors. Check out Brian’s latest CD entitled Dreams.