Long before Julia Keefe `07 was performing on national stages and leading the Indigenous Big Band that bears her name, she was discovering her voice at Gonzaga Prep. Steeped in music, creativity, and a growing sense of purpose, her years at Prep helped shape an artist who now honors jazz history and champions Indigenous representation.
When Julia Keefe talks about legendary jazz vocalist Mildred Bailey, she says Bailey “kicked down the door of opportunity for all jazz vocalists who followed her.” Keefe herself has spent her career bursting through that door—and holding it open for others.
A Nez Perce jazz vocalist and bandleader, Julia Keefe fully lives her identities as both a Native American and a jazz musician. As the critically acclaimed leader of the Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band, she has performed at the Smithsonian and opened for artists including Tony Bennett and Esperanza Spalding. First inspired by Mildred Bailey, a Coeur d’Alene jazz pioneer and Spokane native, Keefe now leads the campaign advocating for Bailey’s induction into the Jazz Hall of Fame at Lincoln Center.
"For the longest time, I kept my jazz and Indigenous identities separate," she said. "Sometimes audience members couldn’t reconcile the two. I would be asked in an almost aggressive manner, 'What do you mean you’re a Native American jazz singer? What does that mean?' The only way I could live both those identities on the bandstand was when I was talking about Mildred Bailey as a historical example of a Native singer in jazz.
That sense of purpose and artistic confidence took root at Gonzaga Prep. Keefe found fertile ground in the performing arts, singing in jazz and symphonic choir, appearing in every school play—plus one at Gonzaga University—and competing at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival as both a choir member and soloist. She won Outstanding Vocal Soloist in the alto division at the festival. Beyond fine arts, Keefe was also was an ASB officer and Magis retreat student leader. In the classroom, she was encouraged to think creatively and take risks, experiences that helped shape her future in the arts. Just as important, Prep connected her with peers who shared her love for performance and music, and with teachers who recognized and supported her gifts, including the beloved teacher John Walk, Bruce Pennell, and Dana Sewell.
As one of only a few Indigenous students at Prep at the time, Keefe also learned how to navigate moments of challenge. “While at times I was confronted with intolerance and/or ignorance,” she says, “I was also emboldened to stick up for myself thanks to several of my teachers. They called out those moments with grace and understanding, really seeking to educate, and that helped inform me on how to handle those moments as well.”
Keefe’s path after Prep led her to advanced musical study, teaching, and professional performance, eventually bringing her to New York City. Among the highlights of her career has been performing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where she also collaborated with Esperanza Spalding. “She was the greatest collaborator and mentor,” Keefe says. “I genuinely treasure our friendship.” Their work together includes a duet honoring Mildred Bailey, as well as Keefe’s original composition, Sonnet.
In 2020, a conversation with Diné jazz trumpeter Delbert Anderson sparked an idea that would soon become reality: an all-Native big band. What began as a casual exchange turned into a funded creative residency, and in May 2022, the Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band premiered in Olympia, WA. Since then, the ensemble has grown to include Indigenous jazz musicians from across the United States, Canada, the Pacific Islands, Central America, and the Caribbean, performing at historic venues and recording a debut album scheduled for release in May 2026.
For Keefe, the work is about more than performance. It is about representation, community, and belonging. “When I stumbled across Mildred Bailey’s name, I felt like I was finally allowed to exist in this art form,” she says. “We continue to do this work for the next generation, so that they know they are not alone and they know they belong in this space too.”
That conviction—to create space, to honor those who came before, and to lift others alongside her—can be traced back to her years at Gonzaga Prep, where her voice was first encouraged to rise, clearly and without apology.
To current Prep students, she says this: “Do what brings you joy, what sets your soul on fire. Find mentors who can guide and inspire you. Find peers with whom you can collaborate and whose work you can champion. When it comes to competition, compete against yourself; other people’s journeys have nothing to do with yours. When it comes to criticism, if you wouldn’t go to them for advice, pay no attention to their opinions. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, just do today’s best. And work on your art; it is the love of your life.”