Julia Keefe is a jazz singer, composer, arranger and big band leader currently working in New York City. But she's also an Idaho native raised on Nez Perce land in Kamiah. Later this week, she'll perform at the College of Idaho. This week she brings her two-person show to Caldwell, performing in the Treasure Valley for the first time ever. How did this show come about? Julia Keefe joined Morning Edition to tell us.
JULIA KEEFE: The College of Idaho reached out to me. I spent so much of my childhood in Idaho, so being able to come back to my home state in this capacity as a professional jazz vocalist in a duo setting, I'm really excited, and I really I leaped at the opportunity.
TROY OPPIE: I think a lot of your small group work has a very traditional jazz flavor to it. The indigenous big band is the opposite of that, very progressive sounding. We'll talk more about that in a second. But what should people coming to see you this week in a duo setting expect?
KEEFE: I'm performing with a wonderful pianist based in Washington state. His name is Riley Gray. It's much more intimate. It'll be more of the traditional jazz straight ahead standards American Songbook, but with a few originals of mine thrown into the mix. I think it's I'm very much a reflection of the music that I love to sing, and I love to share with people. A duo performance lends itself to to something that's a little bit more personal and intimate.
OPPIE: You lean in very heavily to your indigenous heritage, and I wonder how that reflects in the jazz and the style of jazz that you write and the way you interpret, you know, some of these more traditional jazz pieces.
KEEFE: Well, coming up, I really kept my indigeneity separate from my jazz vocalist identity, mainly because it was a pairing that a lot of listeners couldn't reconcile. You know, when you say you're a Native American jazz vocalist, um, a lot of folks in the audience would kind of come up to me and say, what do you mean by that? What do you mean by that? Um, and it really wasn't until much later in my career that the two could not only coexist, but commingle. And, you know, support each other. My indigenous background and my upbringing on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation, um, plays a huge influence in how I interpret songs and melodies and lyrics, because it is a huge part of who I am. I try to make it as personal as possible, because I find that the more vulnerable I am as a musician, the more an audience can connect with what I'm I'm sharing with them. Um, and so the way that I interpret a melody, it's more conversational. Syncopation is very intrinsic to powwow music and traditional music. And so being able to play with syncopations and back phrasing and anticipation, it very much goes hand in hand with jazz.
OPPIE: This indigenous big band you've put together in New York City. It's a wonderful group. You play work by indigenous artists, originals that you or another musician have written. What does it mean to be able to play this music as indigenous artists?
KEEFE: The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band came together in the height of the Covid pandemic and lockdowns, actually. And what I wanted for this ensemble was to reflect the diversity and vitality of indigenous people in jazz past, present and future. So in terms of our repertoire, we highlight the work of Mildred Bailey. We highlight the work of Jim Pepper, but we also have a wealth of knowledge and cultures within our ranks. And so being able to highlight the work of, of indigenous contemporaries is a huge part of what we do. And a large part of our mission is to showcase that, you know, indigenous peoples are not monolithic in terms of our cultural practices, our interpretations of music and melody and rhythm and harmony. And so being able to give voice to everyone in the band, it's been awesome. It's been beautiful. It has really diversified the music that we get to perform, some of which, as you said, is very forward leaning. It's very contemporary, it's very modern. But I think it's it's a beautiful celebration of of indigenous people in jazz. By showcasing the sheer diversity of of voices within the genre.
OPPIE: Singer, composer, bandleader Julia Keefe in concert with her duo this Friday at Jewett Auditorium at the College of Idaho. There's more information at Caldwell Fine arts.org. Julia, thanks for your time this morning.
KEEFE: Thank you so much.
Editor's note: Caldwell Fine Arts is a financial supporter of Boise State Public Radio. This interview was scheduled and conducted within our independent editorial process.