Julia Keefe is an internationally acclaimed Native American jazz vocalist, currently directing the Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band, which highlights the history and future of Indigenous people in jazz. “A songbird of a jazz vocalist” – The New York Times 

It is a rarity to see a single indigenous jazz musician nowadays, let alone sixteen on stage at a single time. Even rarer to see female indigenous jazz players, yet we have Julia Keefe and Mali Obomsawin within the ensemble. The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band is both a reflection of a time long forgotten and a window into the future. It is the bridge for all people to see themselves on the bandstand regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender, or socio-economic status.

Indigenous jazz musicians, ensembles, and big bands have their place in the contemporary jazz world as well as in jazz history. There were small ensembles and big bands on reservations across the US in the first half of the Twentieth Century and several Indigenous musicians who ascended to celebrity with jazz as their medium. From time immemorial, songs have been the vessels of stories and lessons for the Indigenous people of the Americas. The goals of the Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band are to celebrate and continue that tradition, to compose and perform new music inspired by traditional backgrounds, and to create a community of like-minded peoples from all backgrounds to uplift the next generation of Indigenous jazz musicians. “Jazz is a uniquely American art form. The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band… takes that one step further.” – Olympian

About Julia Keefe: Julia grew up in Idaho on her Tribe’s reservation before moving to Spokane, WA. It was in Spokane that she began studying music and competing at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival each year. In 2007, she won Outstanding Vocal Soloist in the alto division at the festival. She earned her bachelor’s in music from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music in 2012, graduating with honors. She taught jazz voice at Gonzaga University and was a guest clinician at North Idaho College and Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival before deciding to relocate to New York City. She earned her master’s in music from the Manhattan School of Music in 2019, under the tutelage of Theo Bleckmann, Kate McGarry, Jo Lawry, Stefon Harris, Dave Liebman, and Phil Markowitz.

Julia also has a passion for Indigenous film and was a featured artist in Sterlin Harjo’s critically acclaimed documentary, “Love and Fury.” Her first feature film, “Virginia Minnesota,” was the closing feature at the Catalina Film Festival in 2018. She is the Executive Director of the Board for One Heart Native Arts and Film Festival, an annual non-profit festival in Spokane, showcasing the diversity and vitality of contemporary Native art in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Julia’s recent recording, “Nobody Else But Me,” was released to glowing reviews. In addition to rehearsing for an upcoming album, she is currently directing the Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band, a new project highlighting the history and future of Indigenous people in jazz, and the Mildred Bailey Project which was released in 2024. Julia has performed with world-class musicians including Jim McNeely, Emmet Cohen, Billy Test, Dan Hearle, Andreas Oberg, Bob Bowman, Clipper Anderson, Jack Mouse, and the Lionel Hampton Big Band, among many others.

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