Bria Skonberg is a talented trumpeter and singer from Chilliwack, British Columbia, now based in New York. She brought her band to play in the KNKX studios in 2024 to celebrate her album, What It Means.
"[The] last few years have been disorienting, for a lot of reasons, for everybody, and I found myself trying to find a way forward, and a way back at the same time," Skonberg said.
Skonberg, a new mom, told KNKX she wanted to lay a new foundation on top of all these experiences, and then be able to grow on top of that again. Her first record in five years reveals part of that foundation is a return to New Orleans style jazz.
On how she rediscovered the traditional jazz sound
"I talked to one of my favorite producers, Matt Pearson. He had this idea, let's go to New Orleans. Let's revisit the music that you've always loved, and got you started.
And that has been a very grounding experience, both focusing on music that has the sensibilities, or can be given that treatment, and then ultimately going to that place, which is largely credited as being one of the founding places, of course, of the art form. So that was a big deal."
On playing with her "dream" drummer
"I had a long term dream of working with the great drummer, Herlin Reiley, and he just did not disappoint. He's so wonderful, absolutely magical human being. And when you listen to it, as I do, I go, how is he playing all those things at the same time? Like, where did those hands come from?
I fell in love with them, listening to Wynton Marsalis as a septet at different influential points of my growth. So that was a big part of it."
On why band camps — for all ages — are her favorite
“This is a pay it forward art form, first and foremost. So I am just trying to give forth all this...all of what has been given to me. Yes, I was lucky to go to the Centrum Jazz Workshop. We can call it a workshop, but we can call it a band camp...I'm a band camper for life.
I went to a wonderful jazz camp down in Sacramento area when I was a teenager, in which case I became an alumni, and a counselor, and then a faculty member. I have since started a jazz camp in New York City, primarily for adults. I think that education, it's what we have to give. And anytime I work with students, I feel really inspired. I also get to do master classes, university.
I mean, at this point, at any level, it's like, if you can give people something to express themselves on and put us in a room together. Let's make something happen, and that's what I love about it."
The love Skonberg has for jazz – and for collaborations within the art form – were palpable in the KNKX studio session. For example, her arrangement for “Comes Love” includes a surprise shift from New Orleans funeral procession style into a brisk Latin rhythms.
