The Marlowsphere Blog #70
Trumpeter/songstress/composer/bandleader Bria Skonberg is a rising star.
In just the last few months the Jazz Journalists Association nominated her in the “Up and Coming Jazz Artist of the Year” category and Downbeat recently placed her in the up and coming “trumpeter” category. And for good reason.
I have heard Ms. Skonberg perform several times—once in Atlanta at the ballroom stage of the January 2013 Jazz Educators Network annual meeting, and more recently in a much more intimate setting at the Bar Next Door in New York City. Whether an audience of several hundred or several dozen, the effect is the same: you pay rapt attention to her music. Skonberg mixes traditional jazz styles with tasteful experimentation and restrained performance. Her latest album “So Is the Day” (Random Act Records 2012)—also the title of cut 2 on the CD—is from the same artistic cauldron.
Skonberg doesn’t attempt to overplay or amaze you with astounding technique, although it’s clear she has a high level of mastery over her instruments: the trumpet and her voice. I’ve often enough observed young players with accomplished technique work hard at playing as many notes as they can in as few measures as they can: technically impressive, but not artistically engaging. Ms. Skonberg, on the other hand, chooses her notes, runs, and licks with care. The aural impact is more than pleasing. It is more than entertaining. The almost quiet presentation draws you in and keeps you listening even after the performance is over.
Perhaps it’s her Scandanavian background, that is to say, her family is originally from Sweden. The family progenitors landed in Canada and settled in British Columbia many years 
ago. Ms. Skonberg was raised in Chilliwack in south western Canada. She landed a job as a singer, doubling on trumpet with Dal Richards, a nonagenarian bandleader known as Canada’s King of Swing at the age of 16. Skonberg went on to receive a degree in jazz trumpet instrumental performance in 2006 at Capilano University in North Vancouver. Throughout this time she won several jazz festival awards and, in 2009, recorded her first solo album, “Fresh,” produced by Paul Airey, who also produced one of Michael Buble’s first albums.
A late twenty-something, Skonberg now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She has performed all over North America, Europe, China, and Japan. She has appeared in concert halls and leading jazz clubs in New York City, including Symphony Space, Birdland, and Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola (Jazz @ Lincoln Center).
I recently had the opportunity to talk with Ms. Skonberg about her playing and development as a jazz musician. I asked her what she attributed her success to:
Skonberg: A strong upbringing to work hard. That’s always been my mantra: to work hard and to stay humble, and to continue to learn.
Marlow: You have a very clean style of playing. Clearly influenced by the New Orleans style, Louis Armstrong, etc.
Skonberg: For me it’s like cooking—everything in moderation.
Marlow: Where would you like to go with your career at this point?
Skonberg: It’s an interesting question right now. I’m continuing to work on original music. I’m doing a new album in the fall (of 2013) for Random Acts Records. They donate 10% of the proceeds to a charity of the artist’s choosing, so I chose the Jazz Foundation of America. They’re very encouraging about pushing barriers. They’re not trying to put me in a box. Career-wise, I’m doing more workshops, I’m teaching, always searching out new opportunities.
Marlow: Where are you teaching?
Skonberg: I have a few private students here in the city. I teach at a jazz camp. This year I’ll be teaching at the Centrum Workshop in Port Townsend, Washington. John Clayton is the Artistic Director. More locally I’m connected with the Louis Armstrong House in Corona, Queens (New York City) about once a week. I’ve been talking to younger kids about the trumpet and original jazz.
Marlow: Jazz is perceived as a male dominated business. Does this get in your way as a young woman?
Skonberg: There are women a generation older than me who worked extremely hard to break down those barriers. So I don’t feel like I’ve been obstructed merely because I’m a woman. When young girls or parents ask me what I think about this issue I say “Don’t think about it. This is the kind of attitude you need to transcend. If you don’t make a big deal out of it, other people won’t as well.” Getting attention is easy, but keeping that attention boils down to the quality of your work.
Marlow: These issues aside, what do you see as the challenges for the jazz idiom going forward?
Skonberg: I know that there are different opinions about what jazz is. If the music reflects the human spirit, and if there’s an element of improvisation, then that’s OK with me. If you create from a human place, people will be drawn to it. However, economically, the music industry as it is now is not sustainable.
Marlow: How do you sustain yourself economically?
Skonberg: Being versatile. Not putting everything into one basket. Being able to teach, record, do workshops, or perform. And doing these things well so you can put a stronger price-point on it. Also understanding things like marketing.
Marlow: A lot musicians, never mind jazz musicians, seem to want to stay away from the business of the business. How come you think about the business of the business?
Skonberg: It’s the music “business.” I had good parents. They said if you’re going to do this, you have to deal with the business side as well. When I talk to students I talk to them about the music business, welcome to it! I have always had an interest in organizing. I’ve always been interested in group dynamics. There’s a wonderful program in New York City called “NYC Business Solutions.” I highly recommend it to any freelancers. It’s a program Mayor Bloomberg put in place to jump-start small businesses. I would encourage musicians to think of themselves as a small business. I don’t think it’s an option not to think of it as a small business. That doesn’t un-attach me from the music itself. In fact, it creates freedom within it.
Also, if we keep jazz where it is, we’ll suffocate. I encourage people to keep their minds open, to seek collaborations, keep a broad perspective, and keep eyes and ears open for opportunities to make music in new ways.
Please write to me at meiienterprises@aol.com if you have any comments on this or any other of my blogs.
Eugene Marlow, Ph.D.
July 8, 2013
© Eugene Marlow 2013