Three decades into a career defined by jazz, funk, soul and an unmistakable keyboard-driven sound, Brian Culbertson is celebrating a remarkable milestone: his 30th album.
The Midnight Tapes arrives February 5, 2027, and represents one of the contemporary jazz favorite’s most ambitious creative undertakings to date. Culbertson not only wrote, produced, arranged, engineered and mixed the nine-track collection — he played every instrument on it, 44 in total.
The list of instruments reads like a tour through decades of American music: piano, bass, drums, guitar, trumpet, trombone, Fender Rhodes, Hammond B3 and a wide range of percussion all found their way into the sessions. Remarkably, the entire album was written, recorded and mixed in just three months.
Even more remarkably, none of it was really planned.
“This album was kind of an accident, as I never planned to play everything myself,” Culbertson says.
The project began as an experiment with a vintage 1970s drum kit. After friends Nicholas Cole and Adrian Crutchfield encouraged him to keep going, what started as a test quickly evolved into a full-fledged album — one that allowed Culbertson to take complete control of every sonic detail.
The result is The Midnight Tapes, a record steeped in the late-night atmosphere that has long provided fertile ground for jazz, while retaining Culbertson’s signature blend of groove-heavy funk, soulful melodies and contemporary jazz sophistication. It’s a decidedly personal project, built almost entirely from the ground up by one musician.
The album also finds Culbertson paying tribute to one of funk’s enduring classics with his interpretation of Bootsy Collins’ “I’d Rather Be With You.” The cover earned an enthusiastic thumbs-up from Collins himself, adding another meaningful connection to a record rooted in the spirit of vintage funk and soul.
Culbertson will offer the first taste of The Midnight Tapes with “’76 Monte Carlo,” a funky, nostalgic single that premieres October 5 on SiriusXM Watercolors before arriving digitally November 27.
The nine-song album moves from the retro groove of “’76 Monte Carlo” through tracks including “Before We Kiss,” “Cool With Me,” “You Got It,” “Can’t Stop Love,” “Let’s Talk About It,” “In Your Arms” and “Shared Memories,” alongside “I’d Rather Be With You.”
With 30 albums now behind him and a new one created through an unusually hands-on process, Culbertson is turning a happy accident into a milestone — and The Midnight Tapes promises to be one of his most distinctive chapters yet.
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