Native American jazz singer, Julia Keefe first came to Jazz Inspired in 2019, two days after receiving her master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music.

Now, seven years later, Julia has created her own path, celebrating her heritage by creating the Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band, one of the only jazz big bands comprised exclusively of Native and Indigenous people. With this band and her smaller ensembles, Julia has opened for Tony Bennett, Esperanza Spalding and two weeks after we recorded this show, Julia would open for one of her longtime heroes, Bonnie Raitt.