Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band
Friday, March 6, 2026, 8pm
Zellerbach Playhouse
This evening’s performance will be performed without intermission.
Cal Performances is committed to fostering a welcoming, inclusive, and safe environment for all one that honors our venues as places of respite, openness, and respect. Please see the Community Agreements section on our Policies page for more information.
Indigenous jazz musicians, ensembles, and big bands have their place in the contemporary jazz world and jazz history. Following 19th-century federal policies to remove Indian children from their homes and indoctrinate them into European culture (Indian boarding schools), small ensembles and big bands began to flourish on reservations across the US and Canada during the first half of the 20th century. Indigenous musicians including Russell “Big Chief” Moore, Mildred Bailey, Oscar Pettiford, and Jim Pepper began to achieve celebrity with jazz as their medium, but they were never duly credited as Indigenous visionaries in the genre.
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 (JKIBB) 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.
Indigenous cultures are not monolithic; many cultures carry traditions and songs as old and sacred as the next. The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band reflects a wide range of Indigenous identities, from South America to Canada, the Northeast to the Southwest. Together, the artists represent a long-silenced, long-forgotten chapter of jazz history: the participation, contribution, innovation, and legacy of Indigenous jazz musicians. And it is this legacy that composers and arrangers Julia Keefe and co-founder Delbert Anderson (Diné) carry forward through original works inspired by songs and rhythms of their Native heritage reimagined through the language and stylings of jazz.
It is a rarity to see a single Indigenous jazz musician nowadays—let alone 16 at one time!—on stage. The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band celebrates the diversity and vitality of Indigenous peoples in jazz: past, present, and future. It is a bridge for people everywhere to see themselves on the bandstand regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender, or socioeconomic status.
The JKIBB debuted at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in May 2022. The first performance was made possible with the support of Jazz Road, a national initiative of South Arts, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
“Himacus Qeci’Yew’Yew” (“thank you so much”) for your support of Indigenous artists.
About the Artists
Cal Performances’ extraordinary 2025–26 season moves into the busy month of March with a schedule of offerings sure to appeal to a wide range of people and interests.
Acclaimed classical and early-music artists include the brilliant The English Concert and an impressive slate of guest vocalists under the direction of conductor Harry Bicket, performing a concert version of Handel’s 1744 vocal showcase Hercules (Mar 8, Zellerbach Hall [ZH]); the ever-adventurous JACK Quartet making its Cal Performances debut in an ambitious program of contemporary music (Mar 15, Hertz Hall [HH]); and highly anticipated chamber music concerts with violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte and harpsichordist Justin Taylor (Mar 22, HH), and longtime friends of Cal Performances, cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han (Mar 29, HH).
We’ll also enjoy rousing jazz from the Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band (Mar 6, Zellerbach Playhouse [ZP]); ace guitarist Marc Ribot performing his score to special screening of Charlie Chaplin’s silent-film masterpiece The Kid (Mar 7, ZP); a brilliant production of La Belle et la Bête from Opera Parallèle that marries Philip Glass’ remarkable score with the classic 1946 Jean Cocteau film, under the direction of Nicole Paiement and Brian Staufenbiel (Mar 13–14, ZH); the phenomenally popular Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens (Mar 19–20, ZH); and masters of thunderous spectacle and jaw-dropping athleticism, the astounding drummers of Drum Tao (Mar 21–22, ZH).
Before the season draws to a close in May, we’ll continue to welcome a full spectrum of talent including Cal Performances’ 2025–26 Artist in Residence Víkingur Ólafsson; legendary soprano Renée Fleming; French piano virtuoso Alexandre Kantorow in his long-awaited Bay Area recital debut; early-music superstars Jordi Savall and The Tallis Scholars; and celebrated pianist, NPR host, and California native Lara Downes with an all-star cast of collaborators that includes the great Judy Collins. And our acclaimed dance series will conclude, distinguished by genre-defining artists and major new productions like the beloved Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in its annual Zellerbach Hall visit and The Joffrey Ballet in a bold new work set during Midsommar, the traditional Scandinavian summer solstice festival.
As you explore the calendar, I especially recommend the Illuminations “Exile & Sanctuary” events that inform the Julia Keefe, Jordi Savall, and Silkroad Ensemble/Rhiannon Giddens concerts, which focus on how issues of displacement can inform explorations of identity and community, and how artistic expression can offer safe harbor during times of unrest or upheaval.
Finally, I hope you’ll join us in late April, when we announce our thrilling 2026–27 season. One major detail has already been revealed—the Maria Manetti Shrem and Elizabeth Segerstrom California Orchestra Residency, when Cal Performances and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County will welcome the return of the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic, conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and a truly impressive list of guest artists during spring 2027. And I can promise you many more welcome and exciting surprises when full season details are announced.
The opportunity to engage with diverse artistic perspectives and share the transformative power of the live performing arts is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and I look forward to encountering these profound and entertaining experiences with you in the months ahead.
Jeremy Geffen
Executive and Artistic Director, Cal Performances