Brian goes back to Funk inspiration for this album that mixes the Smooth with Funk.
"Always Remember" is a smooth-ish groove with Brian's clean piano work a delight.
Equally delightful is the highly melodic "Let's Stay In Tonight".
On the Funk side "Funkin' Like My Fathers" and "The Groove" have a P Funk flavour with co-producer Bootsy involved.
Kool & The Gang's "Hollywood Swinging" and Tower Of Power's "You Got To Funkifize" are given strong re-workings.
The killer track and strongest cover is Donny Hathaway's "Everything Is Everything", which retains much of the grittiness of the original.
An impressive cast includes Ronnie Laws, Gerald Albright, Ledisi and Musiq Soulchild on vocals, Maurice White, the leader and founder of Earth, Wind & Fire, among many others.
Overall,it's a fun album, but not his best.
Enjoy!

When Brian said he was going to get a few friends together to make a funk CD I thought to myself, can he pull it off. This CD just shows the talent of the man and the way he can bring the right people together to make a super CD that has real funk but truly jazz roots. This CD is outstanding as always and the blend of funk jazz simply puts this CD in a category all by iteself. I had a chance to see him perform these songs at the Berks Jazz Festival in Reading. Pa. and I knew then it would be a hit. Great job Brian.

I received my copy earlier today, and what can I say? This is the perfect cd for me as a huge fan of funk. And I liked Brian alot even before this one....Just the list of wellknown funky musicians say anything you need to know. It's hard not to move when listening to this music, the songs themself and the production is perfect. 5+ stars!

If you are a fan of classic funk and jazzy jams, then Brian Culbertson (with the help of a Who's Who of "Old School" friends with serious funk chops) has just whipped up a generous serving of the good stuff for you. Listening to this CD for the 1st time is like unexpectedly coming across a bottle of a favorite old wine, sharing it with a special friend that you know will appreciate it, and discovering that it's every bit as good as you remembered it to be. Of course the difference here is that you can listen to Brian's new CD as many times as you want. If you appreciate music that is "the real deal" as much as I do, my prediction is that as soon as the last note dies away you will be hitting play again to reappreciate Bringing Back the Funk's remarkable and fully realized goal of revitalizing a genre of music that has sadly, become all too rare in this era of formulaic "smooth jazz". This is not ambient background music that won't reward critical listening. Put another way, there are songs on here that are memorable and hold up to repeated listening. I'm talking about songs such as; "Funkin' Like My Father" (with Bootsy), "The World Keeps Going Round and Round", "You Got to Funkifize", and "Voices Inside (Everything is Everything)". There is also a wicked version of Kool and the Gang's "Hollywood Swinging" featuring Musiq Soulchild and Gerald Albright. In fact, Brian has managed to create an authentic funky vibe that really comes across in every cut on this seamless and remarkable collection of modern "old school" songs. Brian Culbertson has the ability to infuse his music with an infectious uplifting groove that will put a smile on your face. I recommend Bringing Back the Funk, with no reservations. Funkifize!

That Brian Culbertson is a fine piano player is no news. What it's real news it's his amazing versatility to navigate from one silky, mellow & romantic repertoire ("It's on tonight") to a funky and jazzy album like this one, effortlesly. That's a gift that not many musicians can prove. Brian has it. "Bring back the funk" is a "must" for any smooth jazz lover. It's hard to believe after listening this album someone could write "tired and uninspired effort", unless you have become def without acknowledgeing it, of course.