Cynthia Sayer Will Lead Her Hot Jazz Trio at Mezzrow Jazz Club

CYNTHIA SAYER, the internationally celebrated jazz banjoist, will lead her Hot Jazz Trio in a New York City appearance at Mezzrow Jazz Club on Thursday, December 26 with sets at 7:30 & 9:00 PM. Mezzrow is located at 163 W. 10th Street in Manhattan. Tickets: $20. For more information: Mezzrow or Cynthia Sayer.

The founding member of Woody Allen's jazz band, who honed her virtuoso chops playing with many renowned artists, is known and beloved for her electrifying, swing-based performances featuring her distinctive style of jazz banjo, the guitar's predecessor in jazz.Sayer's vocals are divine and her banjo a driving force of nature - think Bela Fleck meets Django Reinhardt. Don't miss it!

Accompanying Sayer for will be Dennis Litchtman on clarinet and violin and Mike Weatherly on string bass.

A QUICK LOOK AT WHAT SHE'S BEEN UP TO LATELY....

Winner of the 2019 Bistro Award* & 2018 Global Music Awards*

Featured artist at The Newport Jazz Festival* (2018)

Special Guest for the Django Reinhardt Festival at Birdland, NYC (2019)

Headliner at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (2017)

Touring in China, Europe, and the United States with her bands and as a featured guest (2018, 2019)

Concerts and educational programs at Lincoln Center, NYC (2017, 2018, 2019)

Working with Woody Allen and his band (2018)

*First 4-string banjoist ever to win/appear!

Multi-award-winning instrumentalist/vocalist/bandleader Cynthia Sayer is acclaimed by musicians, critics, and fans alike as the top 4-string banjoist in the world today. Praised for her "drive and virtuosity" by the New York Times, Cynthia enchants audiences with her electrifying, swing-based performances and captivating stage presence wherever she appears.

An inductee into the American Banjo Hall Of Fame, and winner of the 2019 Bistro Award and 2018 Global Music Awards, Cynthia garnered cheering crowds and her usual standing ovation at the 2018 Newport Jazz Festival. Other recent USA festivals include appearing as a Special Guest at the prestigious 2019 Django Reinhardt Festival in NYC, headlining at the 2017 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage festival, the 2017 Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, and numerous others. Multiple international jazz festivals have honored Cynthia as "Festival Favorite" and readers polls have named her "Favorite Living Banjo Player," "First-Choice Headliner," and "Best Banjo Player." Cynthia has appeared as a guest and performer on CBS, FOX & ABC network television shows, including Good Morning America and The Morning Show, as well as on NPR's Piano Jazz, Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour, BBC Radio, and elsewhere. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, DownBeat, Fretboard Journal, International Musician, People Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and countless other local, trade, and foreign media outlets.

Sayer first rose to international prominence as a founding member of Woody Allen's New Orleans Jazz Band, all the while exploring her wider musical interests and playing with such legendary jazz, popular, and roots music artists as Bucky Pizzarelli, Dick Hyman, Andy Statman, Les Paul, Marvin Hamlisch, Wynton Marsalis, Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox, Charlie Giordano (with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band), and John McEuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), as well as leading jazz contemporaries such as Vince Giordano, Scott Robinson, Wycliffe Gordon, and many others.

A multi-instrumentalist heard on distinguished feature film and TV soundtracks and comfortable in many genres, Cynthia's fun, family-friendly programs present the unexpected musical diversity of the banjo in the hands of a master. She tours extensively with her bands and as a guest artist across four continents, including her second smash hit tour in China in 2018. At home, she performs at prestigious venues like New York City's Lincoln Center, Birdland (see 2018 rave review here), and Joe's Pub at The Public, and is producer of the annual "Hot Strings Festival" at City Winery NY.

Her feature CD's, nine in all, have received rave reviews and multiple "Best of" nominations and awards in various categories, including two Jazz Journalists Association best pick lists. Sayer has played for two U.S. Presidents (once at The White House), performed with several symphony orchestras including The New York Philharmonic, was the official banjoist for The New York Yankees, and is proud to be the subject of a Trivial Pursuit game question.

Sayer is also an avid educator, presenting clinics, programs, and lecture/demonstrations at schools, colleges, and cultural organizations, including a series of educational concerts in 2019-2020 for Jazz At Lincoln Center. She was filmed for a national educational project co-sponsored by The Smithsonian Institution and has contributed articles to several American and British trade publications. Her play-along program, "You're IN The Band," is popular with players of all instruments learning and practicing traditional/hot jazz and swing.

Cynthia lives in New York City and endorses Ome Banjos, GHS Strings, Blue Chip Picks, and The Realist Banjo Pickups by David Gage.

ABOUT MEZZROW

Mezzrow is a jazz venue, a listening room and lounge in the heart of the historic district of Greenwich Village. Mezzrow, endorsed by the Steinway Piano Company, has a gorgeous new model "A" (6'3") on which we feature the very best jazz pianists in New York City. Our lounge is a place for adults to enjoy the relaxed social atmosphere of a jazz club. Our Music room is a place for music lovers to have an intimate experience with the artists who are performing. Mezzrow is owned and operated by the folks from Smalls Jazz Club (next door at 183 west 10th street) - a musical environment run by musicians for musicians.