Bria Skonberg

“My first love of jazz came from joining the Chilliwack Middle School band - it was like an 18-piece jazz band, and I wanted to join just because the older kids looked like they were having so much fun.”

“I really enjoy listening to players on the cusp of swing into bebop like Charlie Shavers, Clifford Brown and Clark Terry. They balance immense facility on their instrument with rhythm, melody, and more complex harmonies of the time.”

“I fell in love with playing the trumpet because of what we call 'hot jazz' of the 1920s and 1930s, music that has a higher energy to it.”

“With my trumpet voice, I love gritty, plunger, growly sounds. But vocally, I love Anita O'Day - a raspier but definitely softer sound. Part of the fun has been finding vehicles or writing for both of those sounds.”

“I'm an old soul. The blues, especially older blues, is the human element that kind of gives the music soul, and I think that maybe not enough people connect to the blues. It's a very powerful place to be; and if you can express that to an audience, I think that you can express a lot through that.”

“If Harry Connick Jr. wants to call me and ask me to join his band, that would be fine with me. I'm happy, but if he calls, I would pick up.”

“Jazz was the pop music of its day, and all American popular music has stemmed from it one way or another.”

“I played in ska bands and like all kinds of music.”

“People hear traditional jazz and think it's stale, where there are so many ways it can be opened up. With New Orleans and old-time grooves, there's no limit in what can be done with that. I want to break the stereotype of what traditional jazz is.”

“I like hearing the sort of harmonies people get into in different parts of the world. I love music that has a sense of allure to it, and exotic tunes. That's what I'm drawn to.”

“Fortunately, I have always played a lot of sports, so I keep my lungs in good shape. That translates to singing as well.”

“What I do is always hard for me to explain, but it's like a mixture of New Orleans jazz and world music, with a little bit of Spanish flavour. I just take all that and mix it with Chilliwack, and something comes out!”

“There's nothing worse than bad scatting, except maybe bad mouth trumpet. Mouth trumpet may sound like a trumpet, but it's really more like playing a kazoo. The instant you do your solo, the audience has a bit of a chuckle.”

“I like mash-ups, taking contemporary songs and making them old... old songs, making them new.”

“Jazz is pretty much the freest thing you can be a part of. It's the closest thing I can get to flying. It's fun, interactive. In its own way, it's a sport.”

“I was inspired by my dad; he played trumpet in high school.”

“I took tap and ballet, which likely contributed to my sense of rhythm and showmanship. I love creating music that gets people moving together, free of inhibitions.”

“I'm really a product of an excellent school system and supportive parents. My high school band director gave me recordings of Louis Armstrong, Kenny Ball, and contemporaries like Nicholas Payton.”