A home-grown Chilliwack trumpet player and jazz singer-songwriter can now add ‘Juno-nominated’ before her name.
Bria Skonberg was nominated for vocal jazz album of the year in the Juno Awards of 2017 earlier this month for her self-titled album, Bria.
She found out about the nomination from former Capilano University roommate, Amanda Tosoff.
“Amanda sent me an email. I was drinking coffee at my computer and my reply was ‘Whaaaa!?’,” says Skonberg.
When she went online to see the other nominees, Tosoff was also nominated… in the same category. She also found out that her other college roommate, Cat Toren, was nominated for a Juno as well.
Imagine that? Three young women, who all started school at Capilano in 2001, and who were all roommates, were now sharing the excitement of three separate Juno nominations in 2017. And all first-time Juno nominations, too.
“I have a lot of experiences, and they are really exciting, but it’s just so much better when you can share them with people,” she says.
Skonberg’s album, Bria, is up against Quiet Nights by Matt Dusk and Florence K, You’ll Never Know by Heather Bambrick, I’m Still Learning by Barbra Lica, and Words by Amanda Tosoff.
Bria was recorded in the summer of 2015 by Sony Records and released in September 2016.
“This (album) is where my voice meets my trumpet, meets my personality, meets my sensibilities. What’s cool about this album… was pulling together all of those ingredients in a cohesive way. I feel like there’s a full picture here,” she says.
Producer, Matt Pierson, had a lot to do with that, she adds.
“It was nice working with Matt to focus on the simplicity. Every sound that’s on there, it has a place. There’s no musical clutter going on, it’s clean.”
The album contains 14 songs with five originals by Skonberg: Curious Game, How Can It Be, My Shadow, Wear and Tear, and Down In The Deep.
The album has quite a variety of moods and feels, and includes trumpet, piano, bass, drums, clarinet, saxophone, vibraphone, and percussion.
“(There’s) a little bit of exotic, and little bit of allure. There’s some good swing, ‘Malaguena’ is from a Cuban composer, ‘Down in the Deep’ is very bluesy,” she explains.
One song that is quite special to Skonberg is ‘Curious Game’ because the lyrics were cowritten by her husband, Matt Papper. The two got married in September.
Skonberg’s Juno nomination is, hands down, her most prestigious award nomination.
“It’s encouraging. It means that it’s a bit of affirmation that the work you’re doing is on the right path,” she says. “It doesn’t feel like — I hope I never feel like — I’ve made it. I always intend to keep digging more into this process.”
“Jazz is so individualized. What makes jazz unique is that it is your own experience, it’s based off the human experience, so who’s to say that one is better than the other?”
That being said, having ‘Juno-nominated’ does look good on a resume, she adds.
“I didn’t feel like less of a musician because I’d never had a nomination,” says Skonberg. “But it’s nice because my ultimate goal is always to reach more people, and it puts a little stamp on it that more people will recognize as quality.”
Skonberg graduated from Chilliwack secondary in 2001. That fall, she started her degree in Jazz Trumpet Performance at Capilano. She graduated in 2006, played with the Dal Richards band from 2006-2010, then moved to New York. She was based in Brooklyn for a while, but now lives in New York City.
Within the first 24 hours of her moving to New York in 2010, she knew she had made the right decision.
She was out busking with her friend when nine-time Grammy award winner, Pulitzer Prize winner and jazz legend, Wynton Marsalis, walked by giving her a nod of approval and a thumbs up.
“That was my moment,” she fondly recalls.
Over the years, Skonberg has recorded four solo albums: Fresh in 2009, So Is The Day in 2012, Into Your Own in 2014, and Bria in 2016. Her next album is scheduled to be released in the summer of this year.
The weekend-long Juno celebration takes place April 1-2 in Ottawa. Skonberg will be attending with fellow vocal jazz album of the year nominee, and friend, Amanda Tosoff.
For more on Bria Skonberg, and to listen to samples of the songs from her Juno-nominated album, go to briaskonberg.com.
jenna.hauck@theprogress.com@PhotoJennalism
