Julia Keefe

Born: Kamiah, Idaho

Gender or Pronouns:

Tribe(s): Nez Perce

Instrument(s): Vocalist

Role(s): Songwriter, Bandleader, Educator, Filmmaker, Actor

Years active: Not available  

Credited with: Formed Julia Keefe’s Indigenous Big Band; revival and honoring of Mildred Bailey

Honors & Awards: Not available

Associated with: Mali Obomsawin, Delbert Anderson, Lionel Hampton Big Band and many others

Discography: Not available

Genre(s): Swing, Jazz, Big Band Jazz

Biography

“Julia Keefe (Nez Perce) is a nationally acclaimed Native American jazz vocalist, actor, activist, and educator currently based in New York City. Her professional career has spanned over 15 years and she has headlined marquee events at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C. and New York City, as well as opened for the likes of 20-time Grammy Award recipient Tony Bennett and 4-time Grammy Award winner Esperanza Spalding. Her life’s work is the revival and honoring of the legendary Coeur d’Alene jazz musician Mildred Bailey and is leading the campaign for Bailey’s induction into the Jazz Hall of Fame at Lincoln Center.

“Julia grew up in Kamiah, ID 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 Manhattan School of music in 2019, under the tutelage of Theo Bleckmann, Kate McGarry, Jo Lawry, Stefon Harris, 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 working with Delbert Anderson, Mali Obomsawin, Nicholas Lucero, Nokosee Fields, and the Washington State Poet Laureate Rena Priest on a new project titled Welcome to Indian Country, a celebration of Native culture through seven songs and seven stories. Julia has performed with world-class musicians including Jim McNeely, Emmet Cohen, Billy Test, Dan Hearle, Andreas Oberg, Bob Bowman, Clipper Anderson, Jack Mouse, the Lionel Hampton Big Band, among many others.” – artist website

Performances

Tribal Information

Nez Perce Tribe

Nez Perce Tribal website

History and Treaty

Map and Treaty Period

Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution (the Supremacy Clause)

“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”

References

• Julia Keefe official YouTube channel
• Artist’s website
• Julia Keefe Big Band Project