Cynthia Sayer Trio

Fresh perspectives of the banjo in the hands of a master performing repertoire drawn from the American Songbook, roots music, hot jazz, tango, Western Swing, classical, and more. Ms. Sayer’s trio will include Corey Gemme (trumpet) & Greg Cohen (string bass).

Cynthia Sayer (banjo & vocals)

Praised for her “drive and virtuosity” by The New York Times, instrumentalist/vocalist/bandleader Cynthia Sayer is renowned for bringing the swinging sounds of banjo to concert and festival audiences worldwide. A 2023 Steve Martin Banjo Prize winner and an American Banjo Hall of Famer, Sayer is a pioneering artist who pays tribute to America’s musical heritage through her virtuoso playing, engaging vocals, and informative, entertaining anecdotes. Sayer is a multi-instrumentalist heard on feature film and TV soundtracks and has appeared on numerous national TV and radio shows, performed at The White House, played with The New York Philharmonic and The New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and is a longtime founding member of Woody Allen’s New Orleans Jazz Band. She is also an avid educator with a long track record of workshops, lecture/demos, and educational programming for all ages, and is the author of a popular early jazz play-along program for all instruments as well as a book of jazz transcriptions for banjo, mandolin & guitar.

Corey Gemme (trumpet)

Corey Gemme, a native of Los Angeles, studied music at Pasadena City College and California State University Los Angeles, and found his niche playing early jazz of the 1920s -‘40s. Performances include countless Traditional Jazz Festivals and events throughout the USA and abroad as a featured artist, a bandleader, and with a variety of top bands in that circuit, including LA’s own Conrad Janis & The Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band. Corey currently appears with numerous groups at Disneyland throughout the year.

Greg Cohen (string bass)
Celebrated jazz bassist Greg Cohen has performed and recorded with a long list of noted artists in numerous genres for over four decades, including John Zorn, Ornette Coleman, Tom Waits, Woody Allen, David Byrne, Elvis Costello, Odetta, Ken Peplowski, Dagmar Krause, David Sanborn, Laurie Anderson, Willie Nelson, Norah Jones, Keith Richards, Donovan, Crystal Gayle, Bob Dylan, Richie Havens, Lou Reed, Loudon Wainwright III, and many others. An esteemed educator as well, Greg was the bass professor and head of the string department at the Jazz Institute Berlin for 10 years and is an honorary professor in contemporary rhythmic music at SDMK, the Danish National Academy of Music.