Sunset Jazz Festival at Savannah

Flytjendur

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  Brian Culbertson

  Over the course of crafting a 29-album catalog and architecting 40 Billboard #1 singles as a keyboardist, songwriter and producer, Brian Culbertson has charted his own unique course in music. Label him jazz and he makes a funk record. Call him an R&B artist and he drops an acoustic jazz trio collection. Brand him pop and he creates a 32-minute New Age opus. And you’d be hard pressed to name another instrumentalist of his ilk who can mount an elaborately designed concert production that will keep him on the road for three consecutive months.

  Culbertson burst onto the scene in 1994 with a chart-topping album that he recorded in his college apartment featuring keyboard-led contemporary jazz tracks. “Long Night Out” landed him a lengthy record deal and signaled that a star was born. Flash forward to present day, Culbertson has been going back and listening more and more to music that inspired him as a young musician such as David Sanborn, The Brecker Bros, Chick Corea, Al Jarreau, Pat Metheny, and others in the jazz fusion world.

  “It instantly brought me back to the days of ‘no rules’ and the pure joy of music, something that I think a lot of albums today are lacking. With that said, I set out to write and produce a new album that would try to capture a little bit of that late 70’s and early 80’s spirit of music exploration, along with using only live musicians and real instruments. Similar in style to “Another Long Night Out”,

  “Day Trip” is the daytime version!” said Culbertson.

  Possessing style, panache, and a savvy business mind capable of moving the needle in music and beyond, Culbertson founded and curates the annual Napa Valley, New Orleans, and Chicago Jazz Getaways, which have attracted guests from all over the globe to experience his premier events.

  Whether you’re listening to music from “Day Trip” on record or live in concert, you’re hearing an eclectic, entertaining and engaging set from an artist at the peak of his power.

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  Will Downing

  Brooklyn singer, Will Downing, was born in 1963 and appeared on the scenes in the early 1980s. Singing with Arthur Baker's group, Wally Jump Junior, Downing then used Baker as a producer when he was signed to Island Records. Before releasing his own album, Will Downing appeared on tracks with many other artists, including Daryl Payne, Marc Sadane, Warp 9 and Jennifer Holiday. In 1988, Downing finally made his solo debut, releasing the self-titled Will Downing. The album featured a new version of John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme." The track did not fair well on the R&B charts but it managed to reach #4 on the Dance charts. In the United Kingdom, "A Love Supreme" managed to reach #14 on the singles charts. Downing has released many albums throughout his career, always on the brink of stardom but never quite making it. In 1989 he released Come Together As One and in '91, Dream Fulfilled. The latter featured the single "I Try" which reached #13 on the R&B charts, Downing's best performance to date. 1993 saw Downing's fourth album release with Love's the Place to Be. In 1995, he released Moods and in 1997, Invitation Only. Continuing his steady stream of releases, 1998 saw Pleasures of the Night, 2000 offered All the Man You Need and in 2002, Sensual Journey. With so many albums under his belt, Downing never slows down, releasing Emotions in 2003, Christmas, Love and You in 2004 and Soul Symphony in 2005. While Will Downing has never been a massive celebrity in the United States, he has seen reasonable success in the United Kingdom.

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  Norman Brown
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  Avery Sunshine