Cynthia Sayer by Nicole “Niki” Kottmann

Cynthia Sayer’s resume is peppered with firsts. She is the first 4-string banjoist on the cover of the musician union’s International Musician Magazine (Jan 2021); the first jazz banjoist winner of the Bistro Award (2019) and Global Music Awards (2018); and the first 4-string banjoist in the history of the iconic Newport Jazz Festival to appear as a featured artist. But when asked about her proudest moments, the acclaimed musician doesn’t mention her firsts. Nor does she mention being inducted into the American Banjo Hall Of Fame, or when The New York Times praised her “drive and virtuosity.”

As an artist devoted to performing and recording high-quality music, Sayer instead notes her first concert with the New York Philharmonic and the release of her first album The Jazz Banjo Of Cynthia Sayer Volume One (2016) as career highlights.

“Working with legendary jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli was achieving a threshold for me. I remember waiting for him to come to my apartment to rehearse and thinking ‘Bucky Pizzarelli is coming over, that’s pretty cool!’” she said. “That was my first important project because I was working with three jazz legends, and wrote my first album arrangements. Both huge to me.”

Nothing to Compare

When Sayer started banjo lessons at the age of 13, she had little reference to the instrument. That changed, after her parents, desperate for anything to distract their daughter from her desire to play drums, saw an ad for a banjo teacher named Patty Fischer.

Sayer dreamed of a life of adventure and independence like her instructor’s. Fischer was not only a professional musician, but a professional fine artist, and an amateur astronomer. She wrote a children’s book, hung out with Shel Silverstein, and traveled to Red China before Nixon. She embodied what a woman could be, particularly, in Sayer’s native Scotch Plains, New Jersey, where most women were stay-at-home moms.

“I was brought up to believe that I could be and do anything,” Sayer said. “Yet, I saw no examples. I had never met a woman who was a professional in the arts before.”

Road to the Pros

For the next several years, Sayer’s main focus was school. She graduated high school and college early, but she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do next. Her parents suggested law because she wanted a degree she could use to help the world. The thought of becoming a musician seemed too self-indulgent.

“I was so clueless,” Sayer said. “I didn’t understand the importance of giving joy as a job.”

When she graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in English, Sayer postponed thoughts of law school. She did local gigs for years and was ready for bigger adventures, overseas with a USO Tour.

She never looked back. Sayer started booking gigs all around New York City as a side player and band leader, learning more about the genre throughout her early 20s. She studied music theory while learning on the job like an apprentice.

Sayer’s perception of her instrument changed in those early years. Initially, she thought of the 4-string banjo as showbizzy and sing-along, due to its popular use in those arenas. And she wasn’t alone. The banjo was a fringe instrument in jazz, despite its integral role in the genre’s history.

It wasn’t until she heard a recording of Harlem Banjo! by Elmer Snowden that Sayer realized the banjo is a driving instrument with integrity and swing. Her eyes and ears opened to the banjo’s dynamic musical possibilities and she was hooked.

“I’m a multi-instrumentalist, and playing jazz makes me feel joyful, free, and strong,” Sayer said.

“The banjo, with its honest, raw-ish yet powerful sound, is the tool which best enables me to articulate and improvise. I love the inherent balancing of individual and communal expression. It’s a heady experience to ride on the crest of a musical wave, not know what will happen next, and be comfortable and confident that I’ll be fine.”

Paving the Way

Sayer recalled feeling uncomfortable around other jazz musicians early on. They were nice, but she never got an invite when the guys got together to listen to records. However, she admits that she was shy. (con’t on page 61)