The uber talented Bria Skonberg brings her quartet featuring Sean Cronin, Base; Dalton Ridenhour, Piano and Darrian Douglas, drums to Louis Armstrong House Museum today, July 19th at 2:00 pm. This concert is the second installment in the museum's signature Hot Jazz / Cool Garden Summer Concert Series which has become a hot ticket in NYC's cool summer concert scene.
Tickets are $18 in advance and include red beans 'n rice, sweet tea and a complimentary museum pass. Tickets can be purchased online at LouisArmstrongHouse.org. The final concert in this series is on Saturday, August 16th featuring Gordon Au & the Grand Street Stompers.
The
Bria Skonberg Quartet is a powerhouse combination of emerging talent in the New York jazz scene.
The Wall Street Journal proclaimed leader
Bria Skonberg is "poised to be one of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation." This year she earned a Jazz Journalists' Association nomination for "Up and Coming Jazz Artist of The Year", is included in DOWNBEAT Magazine's Rising Star Critics' Poll, and was honored a NY Bistro Award for "Outstanding Jazz Artist". Best known for her knowledge of classic jazz and instigative nature, she has created a style rooted in hot jazz, world percussion, soul and modern effects for her new album "Into Your Own" (Random Act Records 2014).
For the
Louis Armstrong House Museum's Hot Jazz / Cool Garden concert, Bria has assembled a group of unique musicians that are proficient in the roots of jazz with 21st century sensibilities. Bassist Sean Cronin, a free spirited musical mastermind, has been a part of all of Bria's original projects since 2007; He leads his own psychedelic jazz/fusion experience named "Very Good" on both coasts. Pianist Dalton Ridenhour, a native of St. James, Missouri, has been a featured artist at ragtime festivals since his early teens. He gained his Masters' degree at the prestigious Berklee
College Of Music and the Eastman School of Music, recorded his first solo album on Rivermont Records and is a first call pianist in New York with the likes of
Dan Levinson. Rounding out the group on drums is Darrian Douglas, originally from Jackson, Mississippi. Darrian moved to New
Orleans in 2008 where he took over the drum chair in the Ellis Marsalis' Quartet for the next four years. During that time he also played with Irvin Mayfield, Germain Bazzle,
Topsy Chapman, and recorded with his own group "The Session." Bria first met Darrian at the Ascona Jazz
Festival in Switzerland; since his 2012 arrival in New York he has performed with
Wynton Marsalis, Victor Goines, Joe Temperley and more. Bria performs most often in New York on Wednesdays at
Birdland with the
Louis Armstrong Eternity Band directed by
David Ostwald. She is an active advocate for music education and co-producer of the New York Hot Jazz Festival.
The
Louis Armstrong House Museum is located at 34-56 107th Street in Corona, Queens, New York. The museum is open Tuesday - Friday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and Saturday/Sunday from 12:00 noon - 5:00 pm. Travel directions and more at
LouisArmstrongHouse.org or 718.478.8274.
Currently on exhibit: 20 Years of
Louis Armstrong Archives now through October 6th and is free with museum admission.
Parking is available in the neighborhood and the museum is accessible by subway via the 7 train.
Thanks to the vision and funding of the
Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, the
Louis Armstrong House Museum welcomes visitors from all over the world, six days per week, 52 weeks per year.
