Brian Culbertson is one of my favorite musicians. He plays multiple instruments; piano, trombone, bass guitar, and tuba, to name a few. His new album coming out on July 20th is entitled XII.

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The appropriately titled album is Brian’s twelfth of his career. XII is a little different from the previous eleven albums, because Brian gave his fans a rare glimpse into the making of the album through a video blog which he published to YouTube. I have to say being a musician who loves gear and all things techie the chance to be a fly on the wall through the whole process was a real treat.

As Brian says,

I decided to create a video blog to give fans a chance to watch me make the album from start to finish. Almost daily, they could watch me execute and explain every step of the process, including seeing me in sessions with all of my amazingly talented friends. The response has been phenomenal with many people tuning in every day to see what I’m up to. To ‘Twitter’ about the project, I labeled the topic #BCXII. Someone said that would be a great title for the album, so it stuck.

“Amazingly talented friends” indeed, the first single of the album, “Skies Wide Open,” features R&B singer Avant. The rest of the album surely won’t disappoint either with artists like Brian McKnight, Faith Evans, Kenny Lattimore, and Ray Parker Jr., not to mention to Go-Go music pioneer Chuck Brown and acoustic guitar legend Earl Klugh (on the first smooth jazz-radio single “That’s Life”).

The connection that was started by Brian through the video blogs and during the recording of XII continues as the release date for the album approaches. Brian has hosted a few live web chats with his fans live from his studio. We got the chance to participate in the last one on June 14; it was really cool. Brian answered just about every question that came in from fans, including us! If you didn’t get a chance to participate, the hour long chat is archived for your viewing enjoyment here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/7664898

Now I know for many, Smooth Jazz at times can seem colorless and mundane. I feel that way myself sometimes; perhaps that is why it is often used for background music. Done well however, there is nothing like it and no way it could ever be relegated to the background.

If you’re looking for a good place to start, or another album to fuel the Jazz love, check out Brian’s previous album, Live from the Inside [Amazon MP3
iTunes]. When you do, don’t just put it on in the background, throw some headphones on and actually listen to what’s going on. Appreciate the mix, Brian and Bob Horn worked hard on it. Then once you’re done with that get the Live from the Inside (CD/DVD) and watch it, your appreciation of the music and the talent will go to eleven. There is music mastery and beauty there that will blow you away.

Then once you think you can take and appreciate no more it’ll be July 20th and you’ll be able to buy XII and do it all over again.

You can keep up with Brian Culbertson on his website at BrianCulbertson.com, as well as on FaceBook, Twitter, and YouTube.