Brian Culbertson’s 30th studio album, The Midnight Tapes (out February 5, 2027), is built from 44 instruments — piano, Hammond B3, trombone, analog synthesizers, glockenspiel, and 39 others — all written, produced, arranged, engineered, and performed by Culbertson alone. He never set out to do it that way. The Midnight Tapes Tour arrives at UB Center for the Arts in Buffalo on Sunday, April 11 at 7 p.m.
About the Show
Since his 1994 debut Long Night Out, recorded in a Chicago college apartment, Culbertson has accumulated more than 40 Billboard No. 1 singles from a catalog that moves freely among jazz, funk, R&B, and pop. His 2026 release Day Trip saw him return to jazz fusion territory alongside Marcus Miller, Branford Marsalis, Randy Brecker, and Sheila E. The Midnight Tapes pivots toward a different premise: nine tracks rooted in 1970s sonic warmth, captured on vintage tape, with Culbertson performing every piano line, brass part, and percussion layer himself. The project began, by his own account, as “kind of an accident”: a vintage drum kit purchased on impulse, a few studio passes, then encouragement from friends Nicholas Cole and Adrian Crutchfield to keep going. Three months later, he had a finished record, released on cassette tape alongside digital formats in keeping with the album’s vintage aesthetic. The funky opening track “’76 Monte Carlo,” the lead single, premiered October 5 on SiriusXM Watercolors ahead of a November 27 digital release. Also on the record: a cover of Bootsy Collins’ “I’d Rather Be With You,” marking the classic’s 50th anniversary, with Collins’ personal approval. Culbertson received the Smooth Jazz Network’s 2020 Artist of the Year award and was named 2011 Keyboardist of the Year by the American Smooth Jazz Awards. Ticketmaster audiences give him a 4.9-star rating and consistently describe his shows as “energetic, creative, interactive.”
Venue & Logistics
The UB Center for the Arts Mainstage Theatre sits on the University at Buffalo campus, a proper performing arts hall suited to the kind of elaborately staged production Culbertson brings on tour. The April 11 date falls mid-run in a touring week that also includes Akron, Washington D.C., and Atlantic City. Visit ubcfa.org for venue details. This show is part of the western New York concert calendar.
Tickets
No ticket price was available from sources at the time of publication. General public tickets go on sale October 23, 2026, following a Ticketmaster presale October 22 and an artist/Patreon presale October 21–22. Buy tickets