Video: Bria Skonberg, the next jazz diva, turns up the heat at Morristown music fest

Bria Skonberg at the 2015 Morristown Jazz and Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Bria Skonberg at the 2015 Morristown Jazz and Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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Video: Bria Skonberg pays jazzy tribute to a pop favorite

 

By Kevin Coughlin

One of the delightful surprises at Saturday’s Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival was Bria Skonberg.

With talent like that, she won’t be a surprise for long.

Bria Skonberg at the 2015 Morristown Jazz and Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Bria Skonberg at the 2015 Morristown Jazz and Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

We’re betting The Pride of Chilliwack, B.C., becomes a household name. Which will make us… Chilliwackers?   Chilliwackians?

All anyone really needs to know is that this 29-year-old trumpeting troubadour can light up a stage even when a roiling August sun is turning your eyelids into slabs of bacon. (See video.)

How did Bria slip under our radar?  She made her east coast debut down the street, at the Bickford Theatre in Morris Township, in 2008.

Bria Skonberg, from British Columbia, Canada, at the 2015 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Jeff Sovelove
TOOTING HER OWN HORN: Bria Skonberg, from British Columbia, Canada, at the 2015 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Jeff Sovelove

Her latest album is called Into Your Own, and you can contribute to her next crowd-funded project here.

Bria will perform at the Central Jersey Jazz Festival in Flemington on Sept. 18, 2015. And in November, she returns to the Bickford for a benefit show.

On behalf of music fans everywhere, we’d just like to say thank you, Bria.

Thank you for joining the jazz band in high school, instead of the girls hockey team.

 

MORE FROM THE 2015 MORRISTOWN JAZZ & BLUES FESTIVAL

FAN CLUB: Singer/trumpeter Bria Skonberg enjoys the air conditioning at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Fest 2015. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
FAN CLUB: Singer/trumpeter Bria Skonberg enjoys the air conditioning at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Fest 2015. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Bria Skonberg and fans at the Morristown Jazz and Blues Fest 2015. Photo by Berit Ollestad
GET THEE TO A ZAMBONI!  Bria Skonberg, The Pride of Chilliwack, B.C., and admirers at the Morristown Jazz and Blues Fest 2015. Photo by Berit Ollestad
Bucky Pizzarelli, Evan Arntzen and Bria Skonberg at Morristown Jazz & Blues Fest 2015. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Guitar great Bucky Pizzarelli with sax player Evan Arntzen and singer/ trumpeter Bria Skonberg at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Fest 2015. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Bria Skonberg with Mayor Tim Dougherty, who launched the Morristown Jazz & Blues Fest five years ago. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Bria Skonberg with Mayor Tim Dougherty, who launched the Morristown Jazz & Blues Fest five years ago. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Bria Skonberg with the co-producers of the 2015 Morristown Jazz & Blues Fest, Linda and Don Jay Smith. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Bria Skonberg is flanked by the co-producers of the 2015 Morristown Jazz & Blues Fest, Linda and Don Jay Smith. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

2 COMMENTS

  1. The photo of Bria in front of the fan is probably my favorite. It pretty much sums up the day. I’m not sure what was ‘hotter’, the music or the day?! Let’s just call it a tie!
    Congratulations to everyone that helped to make the festival such a success. My favorite town event has always been when Santa arrives on the Green. Well, now it seems there is another event on the Green that is a ‘close second’.

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