Home » Member Page

Julie Slim

world jazz vocalist

About Me

Originally from Beirut, Lebanon where she grew up, Julie is a versatile singer who has sung in choirs, musical theatre, jazz groups, and world music groups and ensembles. She sings in English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Greek and Turkish and uses her voice as an instrument of improvisation. A self taught musician who considers herself a constant student, she studied voice and acting privately and in workshops and continues to find opportunities for growth in the music world. Her biggest influences have been Fairuz, Edith Piaf, Ella Fitzgerald, Joni Mitchell, Barbara Streisand, and Cleo Laine. Julie's first favorite singer was Doris Day at age 2, and her mother often recounts how Julie would point to Doris Day's records so that her mother would play them. During her childhood years, Julie's name was rare in Beirut, so when she saw Julie Andrews on the big screen for the first time in Mary Poppins, Julie Andrews became her first idol, especially that they both shared short hair styles.

Julie's presence on stage is often described as warm and inviting, and her voice as warm, touching, passionate and soaring, and expressive. She enjoys performing live, and connecting with her audience on a personal level is always her goal.

Since moving to Austin from Allentown, PA she quickly integrated herself in the theatre community and performed with several theatre companies in town, earning a nomination for an acting award for her work in an original children's show call Deep in the Heart of Texas. Soon after, she formed a duet cabaret act themed on friendship, Cabarageous, with friend and singer Donna Lipman and performed in several venues in town before being a mother drew her full time attention. While her two beautiful girls got their schooling, Julie taught music and French as a substitute in the neighboring schools. This also lead her to get certified in Kodåly Methodology, level III.

After her girls fully developed their wings and flew away to start their own lives, Julie decided to dive full time into music. Since then, she has founded two bands: Layalina, an Arabic band, which she co-founded with friend and oud player Sari Andoni; Rendez Vous, a five piece jazz band that combines all the influences and styles in her musical life: French, jazz, Arabic, and Spanish. Julie also performs with the UT Middle Eastern Ensemble, Bereket, headed by Dr. Sonia Seeman, and enjoys sitting in with local world music bands like Indimaj, Atlas Maior, Ojåla, and 1001 Nights Orchestra. She has also been involved as a vocalist through the years with the Austin Jazz Workshop, lead by Michael Melinger, which tours over 150 elementary schools in the area, performing a jazz program by a jazz composer of choice and teaching third through fifth grade students about the chosen composer and jazz music components.

Julie has released a live 3-track EP and most recently, a live 5-track EP. She is working on recording a full length CD, an eclectic multi language compilation of originals and songs close to her heart.

My Jazz Story

Jazz opens the mind and takes you away to a musical world where improvisations create stories of their own. I have sung in many genres in my life, but jazz is the most freeing while at the same time the most challenging as it forces the vocalist, musicians as well as the listener to be in the moment, and it heightens listening. It's a musical conversation that express each artist's uniqueness. The other genre of music that comes close to it is Arabic music with its taqasim (improvisation) taking a song or musical composition to a deeper level of exploration. Vocal improvation (mawwal) adds another layer and deepens the story of a song, expressing emotions that are written between the lines in the melody.

My House Concert Story

I have hosted, attended as well as played at house concerts. As an audience member, I think that they are one of my favorite forms of concert as they provide a truly intimate experience of the music and a great chance to get to know the artists up close and personal. As a host, I loved bringing the community together and meeting new people through it while supporting music at its finest. As a performer, they are in my top favorite venues as they provide a real opportunity of conversation between the audience and the musicians, and they really take the music to a different level through the vibe and the atmosphere they create, which changes the way we play and what we end up playing. I also find that financially they are a great deal on all levels, for attendees and for the performers. As for the host, it is a wonderful way to donate energy, time and resources in support of their favorite artists.