Evelyn Yosmali, Rising Jazz Star
We don’t often hear many jazz musicians playing the vibraphone anymore. They’re out there, of course, often lugging the large, unwieldy instrument to various gigs as they follow in the musical footsteps of greats such as Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo, Milt Jackson, and others.
But vibes players have always been somewhat of a rarity in jazz, compared with trumpeters, saxophonists, trombonists, etc. A female jazz vibraphonist — even rarer. A 14-year-old female vibraphonist, who is already dazzling audiences in clubs she’s too young to patronize as a customer? Look no further than Evelyn Yosmali of Cincinnati.
Evelyn is already an outstanding musician and continues to improve and impress those who watch her swinging on vibes to classic jazz numbers.
After seeing her play in both Barcelona in 2022 and at the CPS Jazz Festival in Cincinnati the following year, I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with her and her mother Amy together on two occasions via videochat, most recently just after they announced some big news (more about that shortly). Evelyn’s experience, knowledge, and enthusiasm for jazz seems to be expanding at fast and steady clip, as she pursues life as a jazz musician with a happy but sensible determination.
She began her musical training on piano, and in October of 2020, joined the CPS (Cincinnati Public Schools) Jazz Academy, created and led by music educator Dr. Isidore Rudnick, who also founded the annual Cincinnati International Jazz Festival. The festival presents the city’s aspiring school-age musicians of the CPS Jazz Academy in a concert, allowing them to exhibit their blossoming jazz skills, and even more importantly, their potential. Over 120 public school kids participate; many are from underprivileged regions of the city, so the academy provides an after-school outlet for them to discover and pursue their musical interests in jazz (Rudnick has announced his retirement, effective at the end of this school year).
Evelyn joined jazz academy after Rudnick placed a call-out to band directors in the district, looking for a pianist.
She admits that jazz was still an unfamiliar genre to her when she joined the academy. “Yeah, it was new to me, I didn’t really have much experience because I started on classical piano. And that was all that I knew how to play. When I joined the jazz academy, it was kind of eye-opening, and introduced me to another, just completely different genre. I had never really heard it except in the background of a movie or something like that. So I didn’t really have that much experience with jazz until I got a chance to play it more and listen to it, and the more that I listened, the more that I played, and listened to other people play, it made it a lot easier to understand and kind of connect to it.”
She played piano for her first year and a half at the academy, sharing the keyboard with another student, thus cutting down on her own playing time. “I wanted to play more, so my mom and Dr. Rudnick thought it would be a good idea for me to try the vibraphone, because the vibes have the same basic key layout as a piano, so it would be really easy to pick up. And I did pick it up really quick.”
As is the case with just about any organized music program, some individuals are bound to rise to the top in prominence, due to their stand-out talents. Evelyn has clearly been one of those individuals. A good deal of her whirlwind jazz education has come from studying recordings of some of the greats, such as Hampton and Jackson.
A memorable opportunity came in 2022, when Rudnick and the Jazz Academy students were invited to Barcelona to play with the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, founded and directed by Joan Chamorro. The non-profit project is world-renowned for its nearly two-decade history of producing young jazz musicians and singers with musical skills seemingly far beyond their ages.
“I had been playing vibes only half a year before we went to Spain,” she says. Her brother Wolfie joined the jazz academy in 2022.
He decided to give bass a try, and six months later was in Spain with Evelyn and others from the academy jazz combo.
In 2023, the SAJB Dixie Band accepted Rudnick’s invitation to take part in the CPS Jazz Festival.
Further opportunities for her to play for audiences — and often with professional jazz musicians — have been coming in quick order in the past few years.
At the 2023 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Moscow, Idaho, she was Runner-Up in the Student Performance Instrument Solo competition, while the CPS jazz combo won 1st Place. She also played alongside professional vibraphonist Cary Kocher and his group during a program titled “A Toast to Nat ‘King’ Cole,’ with bassist Paul Keller, pianist Phil DeGreg, and drummer John Taylor.
As mom Amy explains, “Mr. Keller, Mr. Kocher, and John Taylor had conducted a workshop earlier that afternoon with her combo, and had asked for her (and the drummer from her combo) to open with them that evening — to perform on stage on short notice with amazing, world-renowned jazz professionals…what a priceless experience, and all thanks to Dr Rudnick and the supporters from our community.”
“Dr. Rudnick has given Evelyn some really amazing opportunities,” Amy adds. “We came off having gone to Idaho, but the week prior to that, there was an amazing master class that she was able to participate in.”
In Rudnick’s words, “Evelyn has this ability to take her improvisations to great heights when she is in situations where she is inspired. She is at her absolute best when she can visualize a tangible musical goal to work towards. She brings a potent combination of abundant musicality, fierce determination and sharp wit to her musical endeavors.”
Evelyn also brings her game face when she gets deep into one of her solos on vibes, but she assures us that, appearances to the contrary, she really is enjoying herself. “I and many others, I feel, suffer from that ‘serious face’, you know — I’ll get in the zone, and I’ll be playing and soloing, and everything around just kind of disappears, and it’s just me and my vibes, but I look so serious like I’m mad! I’m not angry, I’m not bored, I’m not mad, I’m just in the zone!”
In 2024, she returned to the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival with the Jazz Academy combo and, at age 13, won 1st Place in the Junior Instrument Solo competition. “My first year there, I came in 2nd and that was a big win, but as soon as I heard my name, I thought, ‘Oh, I want First Place next time!’ It just kind of manifested into reality, and I really wanted it. And I did get First when we went back last year, and I was really happy about it.” She also received recognition as “Outstanding Musician in a Large Ensemble” at the festival.
She also joined the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music High School Jazz Combo in fall of 2024. Another way she has been keeping on the fast track to a professional career is by playing at a Cincinnati jazz club called The Lounge, which has a house jazz band and opens the session every Monday night for sit-ins with outside professionals or college musicians. So, thanks in part to her contacts that the Conservatory, every now & then the Yosmali family loads up the vibraphone and go, especially in the summer after the school year, to give her more opportunities to perform.
Amy is happy to see Evelyn taking advantage of the music opportunities in Cincinnati: “It’s also lovely in that, to me, there seems to be this unique little pocket of young professional jazz musicians in Cincinnati right now, so it’s been fun in that Evelyn and Wolfie have been getting to know them — it’s truly a special time to be into Jazz in Cincinnati right now.”
And Evelyn is grateful for more learning opportunities, even when they include a bit of constructive criticism from the pros.
“I like playing ‘people’ and adults more,” she says. “I love playing with the Jazz Academy, but sometimes I need a rhythm section that can give me ideas, or tell me if I’m in the right direction, or what I need to step up and play.”
The more she talks about playing jazz, the more animated she becomes. She thinks, speaks, and plays as a professional would — even more than during our talk two years ago — again, all this at the age of 14. She knows she’s good, but is never less than modest about it. She knows there is still much more to learn and experience as a musician.
“I think the only thing keeping me from really being a professional is having the time in my personal life to go out and actually do gigs,” she says. “I can’t do that right now. I did a lot in the summer, I played in a little coffee shop bar and a couple of gigs with my directors — I’m in the high school jazz combo, under Miles Twitty, and Dr. Rudnick, of course, and with other kids in my high school combos.
“The first few times I played at The Lounge I had no idea what I was doing, but now I know. You get to feel the atmosphere more if you’re with a rhythm section that’s backing you up. They’re listening to you. So, if you play a lick, then they’ll play it back in some way, or you can hear something they play, and they’re like, ‘here — here’s this’…You can build a story even more with our solos.”
Stage fright, from all appearances, doesn’t seem to be a factor these days.
“I’ve played with people who do their own thing, and me and the rhythm section share licks and try to work it out. And I get a taste for how to do it really, and just play. And playing in front of other people isn’t really much different from playing by yourself, or in a private lesson, other than that there’s more people watching you. Maybe that’s a little better because you get more energy off of the audience, and it’s more fun.”
In August of 2024, she participated in the “Women in Jazz” session in Cincinnati:
One of her most impressive recent solos came during the Jazz Academy’s big band rendition of the classic “Cherokee” at the Beavercreek Weekend of Jazz festival in February. Evelyn performed her solo at breakneck speed.
She also gives credit to Wolfie on bass. “My brother can play a million miles an hour. If we were playing at the full speed that we could, he can play over 330 bpm (beats per minute) for multiple choruses, too. They loved him, they liked my solo…”
Not one to miss an opportunity to experience jazz (especially women in jazz) whenever possible, Evelyn enjoyed the city’s “Jazz Girls Day,” meeting new mentors and connecting with other local female jazz musicians.
And now for the big news…
Recently, Evelyn was accepted into the three-week summer High School Jazz Performance and Improvisation program at the prestigious and internationally renowned Interlochen Arts Camp in Interlochen, Michigan.
As the camp explains on its website, “Interlochen offers a variety of art summer camp experiences — with lengths and dates for kids and youth in multiple age ranges (grades 3–12). We offer band camps, orchestra camps, and more. Whether you are a brass enthusiast, a string virtuoso, or a gifted songwriter, you will find a place at Interlochen this summer. In this inspiring space, you’ll dig deep into your love for your art form and feel your musical strengths growing like never before.”
It’s an intense program that has the young musicians studying, rehearsing, and playing eight hours a day as they learn from seasoned professionals and educators.
The camp also offers programs for composers, actors, and writers. Former attendees in the nearly 100-year history of the camp have included Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul, & Mary), Josh Groban, Jewel, Norah Jones, Chappell Roan, jazz trumpeter/arranger Jerry Hey, Chris Brubeck, and actors Meredith Baxter, Linda Hunt, and Dermot Mulroney.
But Evelyn as a vibraphonist may have caught the camp honchos somewhat off-guard. When she applied last year, there wasn’t even a satisfactory instrument category for vibes on the application, the closest possibilities being percussion, piano, and “other.” She got waitlisted. Her mom Amy suggested to her, “I don’t think they knew what to do with you.”
This year, however, Evelyn was the first vibraphonist to be accepted solely as a vibraphonist, rather than as a percussionist. “The guy who saw my audition is in charge of the Jazz Camp, and said he’d like me to come. There are always hurdles, not matter what! I don’t get discouraged.”
Amy says, “This is a HUGE honor, and she is so incredibly excited. We were notified, along with her acceptance, that she received some financial aid and a merit scholarship. However, the funds received put only a tiny dent in the overall costs ($7,500) for tuition, uniforms, new mallets, and camp supplies, so we are setting up a GoFundMe to help raise funds so she may participate in this amazing opportunity for her to develop her skills, learn from world-class instructors, and perform alongside talented young musicians from around the globe.
“If you can contribute, we would be incredibly grateful for your support! Every donation, no matter the size, will help Evelyn attend this life-changing program. Additionally, if you know anyone who might be interested in supporting her journey, please share the link to the campaign — every bit of help gets us one step closer to our goal.”
Fundraiser by Amy Yosmali : Supporting Young Women in Jazz — Help Evelyn Reach Her Dream
Those who are interested in keeping up with Evelyn’s fast-ascending star can follow her and Wolfie’s musical activities on the Facebook page Yosmali Jazz at the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/yosmali.jazz
We wish Evelyn, Wolfie, and the new generation of jazz musicians well, as they keep the genre alive now and in the future.
Until next time…
You can read my 100+ online articles at the “Garry’s Blog” page on my website, www.GarryBerman.com. The site also includes synopses and reviews of my books, which you can order via the links to Amazon.com.
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