Meet Karim Yengsep | Jazz Musician and Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Karim Yengsep and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Karim, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
There’s a quote that’s attributed to Antoine de Saint-Exupery: “If you wish to build a ship, do not divide the men into teams and send them to the forest to cut wood. Instead, teach them to long for the vast and endless sea.” I think being able to inspire my students is my guiding principle.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I believe in teaching as a calling. So, when we decided to move to Southern California in 2018, I decided to the move if I’ll be able to open my own school that focuses on teaching jazz performance and improvisation at the street level. I think what sets us apart from a typical music school, is that not only we offer students a community of like-minded learners, but also all of our programming and instruction is centered specifically around jazz. This provides students with a hands-on approach to learning and ability to be immersed in the world of jazz from the get go.

The biggest challenge was to sustain this community-centric model for the duration of the pandemic. I feel like being able to survive as a business during the pandemic is the best business school one can go to. Everything else is an icing on the cake. I think the biggest outcome of my story is that one should follow their dreams and never give up even in light of global pandemic.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We’d probably hit up some local jazz venues in Orange County, as that’s where I’m based. I have a standing Friday night show at Irvine’s OC Fish Grill where I perform with my group, SoCal Jazz Collective. This band always takes it to another level featuring originals and arrangements by world-class musicians. I would definitely check out Les Amis in Fullerton where Ron Kobayashi Trio takes stage 1st and 3rd Saturdays. Ron is one of the leaders of the jazz community, and it’s a treat to hear his group play at such a high level. Recently, I’ve also started to play at this great place in Costa Mesa called Paragon — they have an intimate ambiance of a small jazz club. They always feature roster of great musicians. I also recommend checking out Facebook group called OC Live Jazz Forum and LAjazzpicks.com on the web for any upcoming local jazz shows!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family are the biggest supporters of my dreams and what it takes to have them realized. First and foremost, it’s my wife who helped me every step of the way and my brother who is my hero when it comes to business vision and implementation. However, I do want to give a shoutout to the Lyceum Village team in Tustin and Dr. Susan Boettger in particular for giving our program the first home which allowed us to begin offering our group classes in February of 2019. Last, but not the least, we could not have realized this dream without the loyal support from our students, their families, incredible faculty, clinicians, my colleagues on the bandstand, and the jazz community at large. Thank you, guys!

Website: socaljazz.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/socaljazz/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/socal-jazz-academy/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/socaljazz

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/socal-jazz-academy-lake-forest

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDdeHwYobQcj8KYcqoCCC1w

Image Credits
Steve McHale, Elena Gilliam, Timur Insepov, Ryan Peng, Kurt Anh-Khoi To, Martynas Jancius