BRIA SKONBERG

WHAT IT MEANS

Cellar Records

Bria Skonberg, trumpet/vocal/composer; Don Vappie, guitar/banjo; Chris Pattishall, piano; Grayson Brockamp, acoustic bass; Herlin Riley, drums/percussion; Aurora Nealand, soprano saxophone; Rex Gregory, tenor saxophone/bass clarinet; Ethan Santos, trombone; Ben Jaffe, sousaphone; Gabrielle Cavassa, vocal.

Bria Skonberg is a critically acclaimed trumpeter, composer and vocalist. Her album opens with the old standard “Comes Love” as a slow-swing, New Orleans-styled instrumental. Skonberg’s lead trumpet is powerful.  She and her horn-mates play awith the melody for the first time around the familiar song, then a Latin groove kicks-in and the arrangement takes a happy, up-tempo turn.

“Sweet Pea” features Skonberg vocalizing.  She has a light pleasing voice and this tune reminds me of a 1920-1930 era of music. In her press package, Skonberg says that she had revisited material that she had learned in her teens by listening to Louis Armstrong.  She also began listening again to Van Morrison and The Beatles, along with the Septet music of Wynton Marsalis.  After meeting and brainstorming with long-term mentor and friend, Producer Matt Pierson, Skonberg began to formulate this album. It became a love letter to the music and tradition of New Orleans. That is music that first inspired her on both trumpet and vocals.

Appropriately, her third tune is the familiar “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans,” once again featuring the trumpet player vocalizing.

Rex Gregory plays an awesome tenor sax solo on Sonny Bono’s, “The Beat Goes On.” But it’s always Bria Skonberg who blows me away with her trumpet talents. Drummer, Herlin Riley is the motor that pilots this music forward.  Don Vappie’s guitar not only invigorates the rhythm section, but his guitar solos are also spectacular.

As a composer, Bria Skonberg offers a tune called “In the House” that’s very well-written, melodic, and shuffles its way across my listening room. Chris Pattishall is given time to develop an improvisational solo on piano. This tune has a taste of early New Orleans, but at the same time, it’s refreshed in a contemporary way.  Once again, Skonberg shows her awesome talents on the trumpet. She also wrote “Elbow Bump” that swings!  When her ensemble takes on the Louie Armstrong composition, “Cornet Chop Suey” they merge both historic and more modern jazz in a pleasing way.

As a vocalist, composer and expert trumpeter, Bria Skonberg brings a complete package of talent to the ears of the world.                                                                             Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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