Cynthia Sayer

Contemporary, edgy, and soulful, Cynthia Sayer breaks all the banjo player stereotypes as she single-handedly brings the 4-string banjo to the forefront of jazz. Celebrated as the top 4-string banjoist in the world today and praised for her “drive and virtuosity” by the New York Times, Cynthia is a founding member of Woody Allen's New Orleans Jazz Band with whom she played and toured for over 10 years. Her solo career has taken her well beyond these New Orleans roots as a dynamic performer, instrumentalist and vocalist, and whose eclectic, swing-based shows embody the rarely heard range and versatility of the 4-string jazz banjo. Sayer receives standing ovations at nearly every concert she performs.

Contemporary, edgy, and soulful, Cynthia Sayer breaks all the banjo player stereotypes as she single-handedly brings the 4-string banjo to the forefront of jazz. Celebrated as the top 4-string banjoist in the world today and praised for her “drive and virtuosity” by the New York Times, Cynthia is a founding member of Woody Allen's New Orleans Jazz Band with whom she played and toured for over 10 years. Her solo career has taken her well beyond these New Orleans roots as a dynamic performer, instrumentalist and vocalist, and whose eclectic, swing-based shows embody the rarely heard range and versatility of the 4-string jazz banjo. Sayer receives standing ovations at nearly every concert she performs.

Sayer appears regularly in concert and at festivals worldwide with her several bands and also as an individual guest artist. She has played with a variety of leading jazz, popular, & roots artists, including Bucky Pizzarelli, Dick Hyman, Wynton Marsalis, Les Paul, Bill Cosby, Marvin Hamlisch, Kenny Davern, Charlie Giordano (Springsteen’s E Street Band), Milt Hinton, Marian McPartland, Jon Weber, Wycliffe Gordon, John McEuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), Scott Robinson, Randy Sandke, Kenny Davern, Tony Trischka, Andy Statman, and many others.

Cynthia began playing the banjo at age 13, when, after begging her parents for a drum set, she one day discovered a banjo on her bed, clearly intended as a more peaceful substitute. Years later, after Cynthia chose the banjo over law school, her banjo teacher, Patty Fischer, would apologize to Cynthia's mother whenever they crossed paths at the local grocery store. Her mother always kindly reassured the woman that it wasn't her fault: Cynthia was bound to find her way into music one way or the other.

Cynthia's extensive career includes performances in New York City's Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, playing for two U.S. Presidents (once at the White House), appearing with The New York Philharmonic, playing banjo, ukulele and piano on feature film and TV soundtracks including several Woody Allen films — “Magic In The Moonlight”, “Anything Else,” “Bullets Over Broadway,” “Purple Rose Of Cairo” — as well as “Sophie's Choice,” “The Cosby Mysteries,” and TV commercials and radio jingles. She was filmed for the PBS TV documentary “Give Me The Banjo,” and has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows in the USA and abroad. On the lighter side, Cynthia is the subject of a Trivial Pursuit game question and was the official banjoist for the New York Yankees.

Recent press includes being a guest on ABC TV's “World News Now,” Fox 5 TV's “Good Day New York,” the national TV & radio show “Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour,” returning to the popular National Public Radio show “Piano Jazz,” being featured in Downbeat Magazine as well as the U.K.'s Just Jazz Magazine, and being selected as one of the Top Ten concerts of 2013 in Pittsburgh.

Sayer’s frequent festival engagements have included the JVC Jazz Festival (New York and Boston), Molde Jazz Festival (Norway), Marciac Jazz Festival (France), Ascona Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Riverboat Jazz Festival (Denmark), Jazz Yatra (India), Kobe Jazz Street (Japan), Gold Coast Jazz Festival (Australia), the Sweet & Hot Music Festival (Los Angeles), and many others.

Cynthia graduated Magna Cum Laude from Ithaca College. She endorses Ome Banjos, GHS Strings, BlueChip Picks, and The Realist Banjo Pickup by David Gage.

Awards

Cynthia has accumulated numerous awards and honors, including induction into the National Banjo Hall of Fame. Readers Polls from both trade and commercial publications named her "Favorite Living Banjo Player," "First-Choice Headliner," "Best Banjo Player" and "4-String Banjo All Styles." The Dresden International Jazz Festival awarded Cynthia their Festival Trophy, describing her as "a pioneer of a new banjo style... an exceptional artist who, without showy gimmicks, captivates and excites her audiences." Three of Cynthia's albums have been named as a "Top Ten Classic Jazz Release" by Cadence Magazine for the year they were released. "Attractions," which includes legendary jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, was nominated for both the prestigious 2009 Swing Journal Disc Award in Japan, and the Just Plain Folks 2009 Music Awards, plus was selected for the "Best CDs of 2007" list by the Jazz Journalists Association. Cynthia's much anticipated 2013 release "JOYRIDE," was selected as a "Notable Instrumental Jazz Release" by the Jazz Journalist Association, and is receiving rave reviews.