Female singers have become more frequent in jazz since the three arguably greatest jazz vocalists of all-time, female or male — Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday — dominated the genre through the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s. Female trumpeters? That’s a much shorter story. And the ones who’ve excelled at both? Cue the crickets.
That’s because artists who have blended advanced vocals with the disciplined physicality of the trumpet are sparse regardless of gender, other than the rare air once occupied by Louis Armstrong (1901-1971). The New Orleans native practically created modern jazz trumpet playing with his soaring, ahead-of-its-time style, plus scat-singing through an inimitable rasp that produced syllables that mimicked the notes of his instrumental solos. America’s great musical art form has not seen Armstrong’s like since. But a rising jazz star from Canada, Bria Skonberg, is offering up a rare and intriguing blend of sultry-to-soaring vocals and trumpet pyrotechnics through his influence.
Still only in her early 30s, the New York City-based Skonberg arrived in the Big Apple in 2010 through anything but the expected channels. Born in Chilliwack, British Columbia, she started out playing piano at age 8, then switched to trumpet, the instrument her father once played in school. The influence of the annual Dixieland jazz festival in Chilliwack encouraged her to join her high school’s traditional jazz band, and then to earn a degree in jazz trumpet instrumental performance in 2006 from Capilano University in Vancouver.
“I did the public school route as a kid, taking piano lessons and playing soccer,” Skonberg says. And I was singing all along, as I think everyone does. But then I got thrown into a musical in ninth grade, and had to sing in front of an audience. And I loved it. I was a teenage girl, so I figured what could be better than singing?”
Skonberg released her first CD, Fresh, in 2009, and showed the open-mindedness of a budding jazz musician in her mid-20s. The disc opens with an energized jazz version of The Cardigans’ ’90s pop hit “Lovefool” and ends with Janis Joplin’s sing-along “Mercedes-Benz,” still a concert favorite. Yet there was a New Orleans undercurrent throughout that pointed back to her primary influence.
“That started when I joined the high school jazz band,” Skonberg says. “My teacher gave us transcriptions and recordings of Louis Armstrong’s, and I was so impressed by all the experience, and joy, that I heard in his performances. After soaking that in, I felt like I’d seen the movie but hadn’t read the book yet, so I made a few trips to New Orleans. That’s when you realize that, in addition to the music, there’s a special feel there within everything, including the people, the buildings and the food.”
Armstrong’s modern-day torch-bearer, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, likewise heard something in one of Skonberg’s first forays out after she’d relocated to New York City.
“I’d just taken a red-eye flight there after emotionally saying goodbye to my parents,” she says, “with no intention of ever going back. I went out to play in Washington Square Park, and Wynton was walking by and stopped to watch. I’d gotten very little sleep, so I had to convince myself that I wasn’t imagining it, but it was a sign for sure. He gave me a thumbs-up, and I thought, ‘That wouldn’t have happened back home. This is where I’m supposed to be.’”
On her debut United States release So Is the Day (2012), Skonberg covered fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell’s anthemic “Big Yellow Taxi,” but also showed more of her traditional jazz vocal influences, and compositional prowess, with heavy hitters including trombonist Wycliffe Gordon (who’d hired her to record on his Hello Pops tribute CD to Armstrong the previous year) and guitarist John Pizzarelli.
“I’m really influenced by Keely Smith and Rosemary Clooney,” Skonberg says. “And as a horn player, I appreciate the way Anita O’Day phrased the melody of a song, even though she wasn’t into scat-singing so much.”
Neither is Skonberg. At least not yet, as she doesn’t feel she’s mastered that portion of the Armstrong arsenal.
“I’ll try it in bits and pieces, but it’s not something I’ve worked on all that much,” she says. “I don’t love bad scat, so until I can put in the time to get really good at it, you won’t hear it from me too much. But I’ll do it on my own for practice.”
Trumpeter Warren Vache, the 64-year-old who’s played with Clooney, Benny Goodman, Hank Jones, Gerry Mulligan, Benny Carter and Woody Herman, has helped Skonberg arrange a practice regimen since she arrived in New York City.
“He’s been great in helping my focus,” she says, “and we’ve really pinpointed my development in classical music technique on the trumpet. It’s kind of an athletic thing, and he does it so wonderfully. I love it when we can play together, even though I get my butt kicked.”
No stranger to humor, Skonberg has even staged mixtures of jazz and stand-up comedy because of the parallels she sees between the two.
“I’ve had comedians come in and do spots between songs,” she says, “because I find the paths, and struggles, between jazz and comedy to be very similar. In both, you have to just put yourself out there; you can only gain experience by doing it, and there are probably going to be a lot of awkward moments. But it’s the only way to develop your own voice, which you need in order to improvise and develop a symbiotic relationship with your audience. And if you can do that in either, you might not become a household name, but you can still have a fulfilling career.”
With her warm vocal delivery and fiery playing, Skonberg should fit right in within the Sunshine State. She’ll bring New York City-based pianist Dalton Ridenhour, a product of the Berklee College of Music and Eastman School of Music programs who’s likewise well-versed in New Orleans traditions. The rhythm section for her shows in Delray Beach, Sarasota and Boca Grande will be South Florida all-stars Chuck Bergeron (bass) and John Yarling (drums). And Skonberg is also looking forward to the trip for reasons, including having just returned home from performing at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in frigid Moscow, Idaho.
“I haven’t gotten many chances to play in Florida yet,” she says. “And I just got back to New York, and it’s two feet of snow, so that makes me hope there are no problems in getting there!”
Skonberg will play material from her latest release, 2014’s Into Your Own, which features even more of an emphasis on the singing trumpeter’s songwriting. Tracks like “Little Girl,” “Break My Fall” and “Six More Weeks” display an intoxicating blend of jazz, soul and world music.
In other words, it’s Skonberg’s update on the experimental mix of cultures that made New Orleans America’s preeminent jazz city in the first place.
Bria Skonberg plays with pianist Dalton Ridenhour, bassist Chuck Bergeron and drummer John Yarling at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Arts Garage, 180 N.E. First St., Delray Beach ($25-45, 561-450-6357).