The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band releases Incarnadine, a landmark debut album celebrating the diversity and vitality of Indigenous people in jazz. Led by acclaimed vocalist Julia Keefe (Nez Perce) and featuring a 16-piece ensemble of Native and Indigenous musicians from across Indian Country, the album draws on compositions made famous by 20th-century Indigenous jazz luminaries like Mildred Bailey and Jim Pepper alongside new works by contemporary Indigenous composers. Mali Obomsawin's "Wawasint8da" transforms a Jesuit-translated Abenaki hymn into a haunting exploration of resilience and paradox. Delbert Anderson's three-movement DDAT Suite honors Dine code talkers and sacred tribal landscapes. Rogan Kahale's arrangement of Queen Liliuokalani's "Ku'u Pua i Paoakalani" brings a tender, cinematic sweep to the program. Incarnadine is history, protest, and celebration rolled into one, a necessary and overdue document of a vibrant jazz tradition that has long existed outside the mainstream spotlight. Fans of large ensemble jazz, vocally driven big band recordings, and socially conscious music will find this album both musically thrilling and deeply meaningful.
