A New York Times critic describes Bria Skonberg as “the shining hope of hot jazz, on the strength of a clarion trumpet style indebted to Louis Armstrong, a smooth purr of a singing voice inspired by Anita O’Day, and the wholesome glow of youth.”
Skonberg’s album, Bria, her major-label debut released in September, includes 14 songs. Most are standards such as “From This Moment On,” “You’re Getting to Be a Habit with Me,” and “Midnight Sun.” But five songs were written or co-written by Skonberg, who in addition to being a gifted trumpeter and engaging vocalist is an emerging composer.
“She exhibits stylistic shades of Peggy Lee, Dinah Washington, and Diana Krall,” writes an All About Jazz critic. “She has a beautiful voice — both soul sultry and innocent sweet — and an instrumentalist’s feel for melodic line and rhythm. Her vocal and horn chops intertwine seamlessly.”
Skonberg makes her Penn State debut leading her quintet November 30 at Schwab Auditorium.
It’s been a swift ride to stardom for Skonberg, who didn’t exactly come of age in a hotbed of jazz. Growing up in Chilliwack, British Columbia, she says, she was more interested in playing sports than becoming a musician. But her public school had an excellent music program, she recalls, and by high school, she was not only playing trumpet but also fronting a local big band.
At 18, she made a beeline for Vancouver, where she earned a degree in jazz trumpet performance while taking gigs at the city’s music venues. But it didn’t take long for the singer-trumpeter to outgrow Vancouver’s limited jazz scene.
“I wanted to move to L.A. I always had California dreams growing up. But by the time it was time to actually make the jump across the border, I just had so many more contacts in New York … ,” she says. “I had been bumping my head on the ceiling in Vancouver for a little while. I wanted to be immersed in a scene that would really, really challenge me, and New York just seemed like the top of that heap.”
Relocating to New York City in 2010 got Skonberg the notice she was missing north of the border.
“It allowed me to focus in a way, and I started studying … with a trumpet guy named Warren Vaché,” she says.
Being surrounded by great musicians and the city’s patchwork of cultures from around the world helped her grow as an artist.
“It’s got the most authentic whatever style of music, whatever food you want to eat. You can get an extremely authentic version of it, or you can get an incredible, innovative version of it, too,” she says. “It’s just been fun to take it all in and then see how it influences my own music.”
Known for her understanding of classic jazz and her curious nature, she is fashioning an adventurous style rooted in New Orleans jazz and blues, world percussion, soul, and cabaret.
“I really like music that has a sense of allure to it — stuff that pulls you in but has a lot of dynamics, a lot of tension, that bluesy aspect to it. It’s very kind of like Duke Ellington, Sidney Bechet, New Orleans underground feel,” she says of the new album’s sound. “And yet somewhere where I think my trumpet and my voice meet are based around more Latin American styles, too, with percussion. It’s a fusion of all these elements that I think works.”
Patricia Best and Thomas Ray sponsor the concert. For information or tickets, visit cpa.psu.edu or phone (814) 863-0255.
