At 12 years of age, Cynthia Sayer was already immersed in the study of viola, drums and piano. Then she began aggressively lobbying her parents for a drum set. Drums had been tolerable as long as she practiced at home on her “practice pad,” but the expected racket from their daughter banging away on actual drums was more than they could bear.
“I came home from school one day and saw this banjo on my bed,” Sayer says. “I immediately knew it was a bribe. I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I knew when I saw it I’d never get my drums. But I figured it was better than nothing.”
The diversionary tactic was a success — to more than just her parents. Sayer is now considered to be among a small group at the top of the jazz banjo world.
She just returned from a European tour where she played the Caveau de al Huchette, the storied Paris jazz club, and will be playing and singing in Chicago for the first time Sunday at the Glendora Ballroom in Chicago Ridge.
“Cynthia Sayer is one of the finest banjoists playing in the world today,” says Frank Rossi, editor and publisher of The Resonator, one of the two major U.S. banjo publications.
Few equals
Glenn Peisker, former president and now librarian of the Fretted Instrument Guild of America says, “Cynthia Sayer represents jazz on the banjo. I don’t know too many people who are her equal.”
Sayer plays what is referred to as early jazz, and what she calls “classic jazz” from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s. Among her repertoire are songs like “Digga Digga Do” by Duke Ellington, “Doin’ the New Lo Down,” “Kansas City Kitty” and “I’ve Got a Crush on You.”
She does not, however, just re-create the jazz of that period. “I let in current influences,” Sayer says. “Otherwise it becomes a museum piece.”
Because the banjo is an instrument not readily associated with jazz, Sayer has had to surmount what she refers to as the “huge image baggage” that the banjo carries. “You say banjo, people smile and roll their eyes,” Sayer says. “Everybody knows of the banjo but nobody knows the jazz part of American banjo culture.”
The banjo that Sayer plays is the four-string plectrum banjo, used for jazz and classical music, as opposed to the five-string banjo, associated with bluegrass and folk music.
Sayer has performed on Marian McPartland’s National Public Radio show, “Piano Jazz.” She had come to the attention of the legendary jazz pianist when both performed at a “Women in Jazz” concert.
“You don’t hear many jazz banjo players,” McPartland says. “And she can really play it. It’s nice to see somebody with such a fresh approach.”
Respected influences
Recordings by women jazz instrumentalists such as McPartland, Liz Hardin and Mary Lou Williams inspired Sayer early on. Her primary influence, however, was her banjo teacher, Patti Fischer.
“She was the only grownup I knew in the arts who validated my own inclinations,” Sayer says. “I lived in a conservative suburban town where I never saw women do these things.”
At 26, Sayer decided not to become an attorney and to pursue music as a profession.
“I stumbled across jazz,” Sayer says. “When I played some jazz, I could feel it. It was a deep, satisfying connection. I would play simple things that were reaching in the right direction.”
Sayer first encountered the unlimited potential of jazz banjo when she heard a recording by Elmer Snowden called “Harlem Banjo” on Riverside Records. “I heard this and I said, `Oh, my God, this is what the banjo could do.’ It was sophisticated, swinging and hot. I’d never heard the banjo like that.”
Eddie Davis, one of the world’s premier jazz banjoists, currently heads the group that Sayer and Woody Allen play with on Monday nights at the Cafe Carlyle, which is officially called “Eddie Davis’ New Orleans Jazz Band featuring Woody Allen.” .
He recalls also hooking her up with Milt Hinton, a legendary Chicago bass player; Dick Wellstood, a noted jazz pianist; and Kenny Daverne, a clarinetist.
Banjo knows no gender
“When she played with them it lit a fire under her,” Davis says. “She realized that she had something. It hits a point when you have to come through and she did. It eliminates being a female. You’re just someone playing your instrument.”
But being a female has always been a factor in Sayer’s career — and for other women in jazz.
“Jazz was famous for welcoming blacks and whites but was always segregated by gender,” Sayer says. “There are many accomplished women jazz players today but it is still a minority. It is still a man’s field.”
Sayer believes she has had some effect on bringing a new awareness and respect to the banjo.
“I get rockers listening to me,” she says. “I’m proud when I do a concert that teenagers tell me that it was `cool.’ Young girls — 10-year-old girls — want to meet me. I’m obviously being current with them with music from another time.”
