Cynthia Sayer

Cynthia Nan Sayer is a jazz banjoist and singer and a founding member of Woody Allen's New Orleans Jazz Band.

A native of Waltham, Massachusetts, Sayer spent her early childhood in Wayland, Massachusetts and the remainder of her youth in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. She played piano from the age of six through her college years and also studied viola, drums, guitar, and banjo. She graduated from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in 1974 and was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 2016.She sang in school and community theater and graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in English. Sayer has worked with Woody Allen, Milt Hinton, Dick Hyman, Bucky Pizzarelli, George Segal, Dick Wellstood, and the New York Philharmonic.

• National Four-String Banjo Hall of Fame, 2006

• The Jazz Banjo of Cynthia Sayer Vol. 1 (New York Jazz, 1987)
• More Jazz Banjo Vol. 2 (New York Jazz, 1989)
• Forward Moves (Yerba Buena, 1992)
• Jazz at Home (Jazzology, 1997)
• String Swing (Jazzology, 2000)
• Souvenirs (Plunk, 2002)
• Attractions with Bucky Pizzarelli (Plunk, 2007)
• Joyride (Plunk, 2013)

With the New York Banjo Ensemble

• Plays Gershwin (Kicking Mule, 1982)

As guest

• Woody Allen, Wild Man Blues (RCA Victor, 1998)
• Peter Ecklund, Strings Attached (Arbors, 1996)
• Tony Trischka, World Turning (Rounder, 1995)
• Terry Waldo, Let It Shine (Stomp Off, 2003)

• The Mississippi Rag, "Cynthia Sayer, Banjoist from the Big Apple", by George A. Borgman, June 1994.