>> Claudia Morales: Hello, I am Claudia Morales from the Music Division, and I am super excited to welcome to our digital stage vocalist, trumpeter, and songwriter Bria Skonberg. Described as one of the most versatile and imposing musician of her generation by the Wall Street Journal, Bria has made a name for herself in the hot jazz world. A native of British Columbia, Canada, and based in New York City, Bria was a 2017 junior award winner for best jazz album. Referred to as a [inaudible] shaking out the jazz world, Bria Skonberg is admired for her brassy voice, fierce trumpet, and captivating compositions that have taken her to stages around the world. Bria is here to talk about her virtual performance and her educational videos streaming at the library on December 11th. Bria, welcome to the library. I'm so happy to have you here. >> Bria Skonberg: Thank you so much. It's wonderful to be here. And hello to everybody who is watching this. Thanks for joining us. >> Claudia Morales: Of course. So, Bria, let's take a ride down to your performance. You are presenting a virtual concert for us this upcoming month. And you have five pieces from your new album. Can you tell us about that work, please? >> Bria Skonberg: Yes, yes. So, the album that you're speaking of is called Nothing Never Happens. And the title is someone indicative of the content, you know, I created a lot of original music inspired by, you know, basically just the need to get out and process all of the events happening in the world a couple of years ago. You know, that's I think why the arts are necessary, it gives us a chance to process and create. So, the album is, to me, it has a real kind of charged energy, it has, you know, some real grit to it. And I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to get, you know, some wonderful video footage and share some more of that music. Even though the album was recorded a few years ago, the music is still pretty relevant today. >> Claudia Morales: Within those songs, there's a song, it's called So is the Day that was also recorded in your 2012 album. But this version has a different beat, different tune, different texture. What were you trying to experiment with this new take on the same, the same work? >> Bria Skonberg: Yeah, great question. So is the Day is a song that I wrote, as you said, before 2012. And it stuck with me for a really long time because it continues to morph with life's many experiences, as do I. It's really just like a palette. It's a, it feels like a bluesy, almost like a New Orleans Dirge sort of feel. And what's wonderful about it is, you know, the melody is simple, the meaning behind it is simple and universal. But I can use it to put whatever I'm feeling in that moment into the song. And so the lyrics are I love you, but I can't have you. I want you, but I can't have you. Things that everybody can relate to, you know, whether it's a romantic thing or a life opportunity. So, I have just continued to play this song over the years, and the version from 2012 has a nice kind of groove to it and a beat. But I feel that this version is more, again, about like wrapping up life's experiences in it and really trying to share that with people. And hopefully the listener can have some of that same experience. >> Claudia Morales: Yeah, I love, I really was, I was listening to both versions of it over and over, and I definitely am in love with this new take that you did in the 2019. It was really, it really is very strong, I mean, you can't help but just be with it. And I think we can, as you said, we can all relate to that energy of that work. >> Bria Skonberg: Yeah, thank you. And I think the original feeling is, you know, you long for something, you want something. But at the end, it's really, it's redemption, it's overcoming this and taking control of those feelings, which can only come, I think, with age and maturity. >> Claudia Morales: Yeah, that's right. Another piece that I really love from this album, on mean, from this virtual concert, not this album, that is not in this album, is the Elbow Bump. >> Bria Skonberg: Ah, yeah. >> Claudia Morales: That you wrote in 2020. And I was just captivated by the song. Can you tell us, what are we hearing, what are we listening in this, in this texture? >> Bria Skonberg: So, Elbow Bump, if you haven't heard it yet, it's got kind of a New Orleansy street beat groove. There's a lot of playfulness in it. It also has a very simple melody. And this song was created in March of 2020, right when everything shut down. And for the first time, I was playing by myself, you know, but I was imagining the band in my head. And actually the first video I made, an acapella video playing with other musicians videos over elbow bump, yeah, I think it came from just an organic need of wanting to play with other people, and now to take it from that idea and to play it live with people is really special. So, that one, that one to me is just, it's just fun, it's just fun. Elbow bump, of course, the safe way to touch other people. Yeah, and I think, you know, jazz is most fun when you just feel like kids in a sandbox throwing dirt at each other, throwing ideas around, throwing it back and forth. I love what the band plays. Darien Douglas on drums is a longtime friend of mine, and he lived in New Orleans for a while, so he always does a really good job of just getting, getting that energy going from behind the drum set to the whole band. >> Claudia Morales: To me, it was interesting that he said you wrote this piece in the middle of the pandemic when, I mean, we all know what happened. >> Bria Skonberg: Yeah. >> Claudia Morales: But you were still able to grasp this energy when, and I guess were you trying to channel the spirit of being with others while we couldn't at that time? >> Bria Skonberg: Yeah. You know, again, March 2020, so perhaps it was a little more optimistic at that moment of how long it would take. But, yeah, I think being able, you know, something good came out of it. A fun little song that is easy to understand and share with other people. So, let's take it. >> Claudia Morales: Going back to the pandemic, you've been in the business for a long time. And you tour around the world, you've been in bands, and you've done a lot. And all of a sudden the pandemic started, and then we, you know, again, we all know what happened. How do you channel your creative energy during this, I mean, almost year and a half month of music darkness? >> Bria Skonberg: Yeah, it's been very confusing for many people, disorienting. I'll say I am grateful that my reaction was first not to focus on what I couldn't do, but to focus on what I could do. So, for the first six months, twice a week, I did a live stream on Facebook. And it was just me playing songs, playing keyboard, telling jokes, and interacting with the people through the chat. And it ended up being just such a wonderful relief there, community, camaraderie, and a chance to keep, learn some new songs. That really kept me positive for a long while. At least for creativity. And honestly more than creativity, I focused on the technique, the technical aspects of playing the trumpet. Maybe for us musicians, you don't have that sort of routine to set a schedule for your own practice. So, I feel like more than creativity, I focused on the specific technical aspects of playing the trumpet. And then the other big piece of last year is that I, before, in February, I found out I was pregnant. So, I actually had a baby last year. And that added some momentum to the whole thing. All of my, you know, my creativity, all the, was also, you know, inspired by that, but I had a lot of things to prepare for mentally, physically, everything. So, I was busy. [ Inaudible ] I've been busy. >> Claudia Morales: Believe me, you will continue being busy pretty much for the rest of your life. >> Bria Skonberg: I had no idea. >> Claudia Morales: So, speaking of that, how are you combining? I mean, now the world is opening up again for musicians, I see that you have a tour coming up in the next few days, you have a new baby. I can't help but to ask you, how are you combining these two worlds? >> Bria Skonberg: It's, yeah, it's a challenge. It's a new puzzle. I think of bands and tours and all these things like puzzles, just trying to figure it together, and now all of a sudden it's like you have a whole other band. So, you know, I think we just get experience by doing. This will be my first tour for multiple days. You know, thankfully my husband, my partner is here, wonderful. The pandemic has made everything more difficult than it needs to be, because you can't share that with other people, you know, or we haven't had as much help. But we laugh every day, so I'm grateful for that. I think, you know, we'll see, we'll just, you know, it will happen because it has to. But we are exercising a lot of patience and gratitude and being more focused about, you know, again, I have to practice the trumpet, I have to be physically, I have to be ready for these performances, so I need to focus as much as possible on so little sleep, I need to focus on the things that need to get done. But, you know. >> Claudia Morales: Yeah, we get it done. You just get it done. >> Bria Skonberg: Yeah. >> Claudia Morales: And for your practice, do you, now that you have a baby at home, do you practice somewhere else? How do you manage that? Because that's a new adjustment to your professional life, right? >> Bria Skonberg: Yeah, yeah. And actually, in the last few months, I've been going, there's an education center, a theater nearby where I live, that you can rent rooms by the hour. And that's it, yeah, I'll go down, go a couple blocks away and I'll practice for an hour or two and come back home and get to work again. >> Claudia Morales: That's wonderful. We all need that support that allows us to combine all the different aspects of who we are. Mothers, worker, musician, all at the same time. We can do it, we can do it. >> Bria Skonberg: We have to. >> Claudia Morales: Bria, I'd love to go back, go back into your youth and your years as a young musician when you chose your instrument. You're a trumpeter, vocalist, composer. How do you, how do you choose your instrument? It's not very typical to find a woman who does all these three things. How do you choose that instrument that is, again, it's not that typical for a woman trumpeter to be in the scene. >> Bria Skonberg: Yes, I'm very lucky. My father played trumpet back in high school. He doesn't play anymore. But he loved it. We had a trumpet at home. And so it was familiar. And I had a chance to play around with it. I picked up playing when I was about almost 12 years old. I really started to take trumpet seriously because of public school band programs. I joined the concert band, joined the jazz band. Before playing trumpet, I played piano. And my parents were just really good at getting both my brother and my sister and I involved in a lot of things. I played sports, I played music instruments, you know, there wasn't a lot of pressure to be the best. They just said just keep trying things, and, you know, be part of teams especially. And I think those skills have helped me become a, you know, a professional musician and work with other people really well. >> Claudia Morales: And how did you choose the trumpet? What was it in the trumpet that you fell in love with? >> Bria Skonberg: I think, you know, you can make funny sounds like a little kid, just, you know, what I do is, this is what I do. And I thought that was funny. I love the look of it. I like, you know, I love the sound of it. I was really drawn to music of big bands, you know, classic American swing music, you know, now, of course, different kinds of Latin music. I love, the trumpet is always just bright, it has, to me, it's like a call to action. Historically, it's, you know, either, you know, bringing people together and charging, so I like that. And the personality of the instrument. And most often you play the melody of the song. >> Claudia Morales: My son also, he plays the trumpet in middle school, in the middle school band. >> Bria Skonberg: Yes. >> Claudia Morales: And he transitioned from playing the clarinet, he played the clarinet one year, and then he tried the trumpet, and he fell in love with the trumpet. And he's been playing, and now his band teacher is trying to convince him to play the French horn. >> Bria Skonberg: Okay. Well, French horn, French horn is hard. The French horn is hard too. It's a smaller mouthpiece. So, but that means probably that he is advanced on the trumpet, so they want to give him that responsibility too. >> Claudia Morales: Or there are not that many French horn players. >> Bria Skonberg: Either way, either way. >> Claudia Morales: And Bria, I know that education is a big part of your music profession. And you dedicate some, a lot of time to education. Can you tell us about your involvement with the Hot Jazz Camp in New York City? >> Bria Skonberg: Yes. So, the New York Hot Jazz Camp, my friend Molly Ryan and I, who's a vocalize, we started it in 2015, and it was inspired because both of us attended jazz camps as youth, as particular, I attended one in California when I was a teenager. Now it's the Tea Garden Jazz Camp in Sacramento. And I became, you know, a student to an alumni, to a faculty member, and I think always just had a dream to start that experience somewhere wherever I ended up living for the rest of my life. Claudia Morales: So, yeah, the New York Hot Jazz Camp is for adults. As you can truly imagine, we had to cancel in the beginning of 2020. We did two virtual camps, which is difficult with music. But, again, it's about community, and there are many things to learn, of course, away from playing in a band environment. But, yeah, it's just been a wonderful way to get to know more people and focus on the roots of American jazz music. You know, I feel lucky, in my hometown, we had a festival, and I learned a lot about New Orleans style jazz, which is so strong with melodies and rhythm and beginning harmony, it's a great place to learn how to improvise, it's a good way to, again, play together with other people. And keeps jazz fun. You know, jazz sometimes doesn't have that reputation anymore. But especially when you're starting out as a young kid to have that, that feeling of just fun and collective energy is important. So, that is why we chose that as the focus for the camp. And, yeah, we hope, I mean, hopefully we'll get to done it again next year. The ground is still a little shaky under everybody's feet. Especially with this new life experience I talked about that I have. So, we'll see. But nyhotjazzcamp.com, keep in touch there. One of the benefits of switching to virtual is we did more master classes, we were able to have more people talk about the history of the music, and, you know, the different nuances in it. So, we'll just look forward to a time when we can bring that onto the instruments again. >> Claudia Morales: Speaking of that, you also did five educational videos for us along your virtual concert. Can you brief us on what we are about to watch in those five videos? >> Bria Skonberg: Yes. What did we see? Well >> Claudia Morales: Composition, and then also technique, and all those things. >> Bria Skonberg: That's right, yeah. One is about improvising. So, this is why it's perfect. You know, improvising off of the melody, it's, anybody can do it, you know, the same as you and I are having a conversation right now, we're improvising based off of a vocabulary that we both know. And so as you are learning music and learning another instrument, as you play more songs, you enhance your vocabulary, so you can try to improvise with other people too. That's the concept of one video. There's one about something that I do specifically on the trumpet to warm up, there's one about my composition process, which I think the main point of that is to take judgment out of it. You know, when I compose, I sit at a keyboard, I close my eyes, and I see what comes out. And you have to allow, allow whatever you're feeling to come out without judgment. It's perfect. And then you can develop it from there. That's a snapshot of that. I shared a few tips on band leading because I have been talking about music business. I have led my own bands for 20 years now. And there are just a few things that think have been helpful with that. And I have to think about what the other video is. But that's a quick snapshot of those videos. >> Claudia Morales: That's great. We thank you so much for those because those are very helpful and help our audience who are not with us to get to know you as a musician and an educator. I'm always curious to know about people's individual nuances. For instance, when you practice, how do you, you just mentioned before that you go out and you practice one hour, two hours a day. Is that something that you try to maintain throughout the year? When you are on the road, is that something that you can also do, or do you have to maybe, like it's more continuous when you are home and not on the road? >> Bria Skonberg: Well, in a perfect world, you know, I'd be able to practice for an hour or two a day and then go play a gig for an hour or two a night. And then you feel really strong. Trumpet and brass instruments are very athletic. They take some muscles, some specific muscles that you have to keep in shape. So, I can't remember, Lewis Armstrong would say, if I take a day off, I notice. If I take two days off, musicians notice. Three days off, everybody notices. It's always a feeling like you, you know, you have to put in that time, at least to be able to perform on a level that we want to as professionals. You know, that being said, you don't always have that time. But I have found some tricks, not tricks, just ways to keep practicing, even away from the instrument. So, if I'm on an airplane, I don't, I'm not going to take out my trumpet. I'm going to go, or like I have, what's a little exercise things to work on my fingers, you know, there are technical parts that you can keep kind of exercise the muscles away from the instrument when you don't have that concentrated time to put into it. And, again, I think if there are, you know, musicians watching this right now, it's equally effective. If you can do 15 minutes of focused practice, and isolate and address the things you really need to work on, that's just as good as 45 minutes of practice without any sort of focus. You know? Be specific. You have to be. So, it's been good for me to have less time, because I don't focus very well. Now I have to. >> Claudia Morales: I can, yeah, I can imagine now with all your responsibilities, it can become more challenging. And Bria, I must ask, was it difficult for you as a woman with this particular instrument to make a name for you and to see and to be where you are? Was your, was your journey in the music scene easy, smooth for you? >> Bria Skonberg: Well, I think I was, I was lucky growing up that there were a lot of other girls playing trumpet beside me. So, I didn't feel so isolated, and I also didn't feel so special all the time. Like I just focused on playing the instrument. I wasn't thinking as much about, you know, the dynamics of what other people thought about me or what I need to think about myself because of them. You know, as far as making a name in the business, you know, probably for every opportunity I didn't get, I got another one. You know? And I have focused a lot on creating my own opportunities, being a band leader, pulling together a band, it's a lot of organization, it's a lot of work. So, the challenge for me has been mostly about just leading a band and getting into it, not about how other people perceived that process. And if there are probably things that I don't even know about that maybe I haven't gotten certain opportunities, but whatever, I don't know, I can't focus on that. I'll just keep doing what I do. I don't know. >> Claudia Morales: And speaking of which, what would you say to young, young girls, young women in music who are thinking about entering the music world as a profession, and maybe taking the trumpet or other instruments in which they are not that many women representation, what would you say to them at this point in their life? >> Bria Skonberg: Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, go, don't think twice. Take a big breath, put some air through the horn. And I say keep your bell up, you know, stay positive and push forward. And you will, you know, you will find success. I think if you just continue to work hard and you're nice to other people, you have to keep that going. There is an incredible group of young women trumpet players right now that I have never seen before in my life. Like there are, I mean, it doesn't sound like a lot, but maybe five to ten really, really good trumpet players around 20 years old. And it's exciting. It really inspires me in a lot of ways. I call them my little sisters. And I think that right now, also because of social media and the way that people can connect, they are finding each other, they are inspiring more underneath them, and so if, you know, I'm just trying to continue to say, to be the representation that you can do it. Yes, keep on doing it, keep on working. I'm going to keep working hard so that they have a chance, you know, they can see what it looks like to have a life in music. But I will say that I'm excited. I think there, I think people will see a lot more female trumpet players especially in the years ahead. >> Claudia Morales: Can you name a few that we can follow on social media? >> Bria Skonberg: Yeah. Well, the top ones right now, Summer Camargo, Kellin Hanas, Sarah McIntyre, Janelle Finton, Grace Fox. There are so many. I mean, there's just five off the top of my head. >> Claudia Morales: That's great. That's great. >> Bria Skonberg: In the spring, I organized Bell Thompson Bell Thompson's great, Adrienne Bazil, I'm still going, I organized, I organized a virtual trumpet summit for female and nonbinary musicians in the spring, just for that, and I just, right away, I had, you know, 150 girls, women of all ages that wanted to participate. I ended up having about 75 there, just to talk. So, I think this is a good example of how we can use the internet to connect each other, empower each other. And what's beautiful is that, you know, maybe unlike the macho style of things, they are, they're less competitive, they're really celebrating each other's kind of successes and strengths and getting better because of it. It's very cool. I also belong to a group called The Women in Jazz Organization that has been proactive in creating mentorship opportunities between generations. So, this year I'll be actually mentoring Kellin, where we're going to get together a bunch of times over the next year. And that's just wonderful because we get these opportunities again to talk about music and talk about life and beyond. >> Claudia Morales: That's wonderful. Thank you for sharing. >> Bria Skonberg: I didn't have as much of that growing up. But I will say that there are been women, like Ingrid Jensen in particular, you know, as a trailblazer, absolutely, yeah. >> Claudia Morales: Ingrid was part of the virtual performance that we had with Terri Lyne in the spring. So, we are fortunate to had her in the concert. So, it was a great, we need more spaces to empower other women musicians and other women in different areas. So, this is great that you are giving them a shout out, a shout out. And for the ones who are watching from home, rewind, get their names again, look them up, support them. >> Bria Skonberg: And you too. I mean, thanks for, I mean, highlighting Terri Lyne Carrington. I don't want to imagine a world without Terri Lyne Carrington in it, you know, and there are more girls, these voices that need to emerge to just continue to expand the musical horizons that we have. It's so cool. >> Claudia Morales: Oh, we had great, we had a wonderful lineup in the spring. We had Terri Lyne Carrington. We had Candance Prins [phonetic]. >> Bria Skonberg: Yes. >> Claudia Morales: Then in the fall, we had [foreign name]. So, all these fantastic women musicians who are just bringing so much light and so much joy into our performances and who are also empowering other women to go ahead, and like you said, do it. >> Bria Skonberg: Yeah. >> Claudia Morales: And so that's what, that's what we need. >> Bria Skonberg: Yeah, exactly. >> Claudia Morales: Doers, we need more doers. I mean, we have a lot. We just need to put some light on them. Thank you so much, Bria. I can't thank you enough for your time, for your concert, for your educational videos. I wish you so much success in the tours that are coming up, and combining also your profession with your motherhood, that is just starting to bloom in these new months. So, many success, and all the love and peace for you. >> Bria Skonberg: Thank you so much. It's such an honor to be part of this series. And thank you so much for supporting the arts. And thank you, again, to everybody who's watching this. I hope to see you in the real world as well. >> Claudia Morales: Yes. And for the ones who are watching from home, tune in for Bria's concert, virtual concert, streaming on all the library platforms on December 11th. See you at the next one. Bye bye!